Jerusalem Day: A Self-Guided Tour

Today I had a free day from my errands and registrations, more because I wasn't able to find the proper offices and the one office that I did find wasn't actually taking customers today. So basically I took it as a sign that there was a government holiday. Or free day, for me.

I set out in the early afternoon with my requisite 1.5 liter bottle of water (slow steps to learning the metric system) and began the adventures. Walking from the neighborhood of Baka through Emek Refa'im and then on a serene, yet slippery, path up to the Old City.

I entered the Old City from the Zion Gate, pocked full of a variety of shells from the 1948 and 1967 wars and perhaps earlier and later, too. This gate is located on the edge of the Armenian and Jewish Quarters of the Old City and, along with the other seven gates of the city, has a pretty interesting history. I made my way through the Jewish Quarter, stopping to take pictures of the Ramban Synagogue, which was originally a synagogue built in the 13th century and, having been completely destroyed in 1948 by the Arab Legion, was just rebuilt and reopened.

After passing through a security checkpoint, I entered the majesty that is the Western Wall Plaza. I never cease to be impressed with this place and the aura, history and spiritualism that surrounds and embodies it. I was very proud of myself for reading a longish sign in Hebrew that detailed the history of the Wall. However, I must admit that even though I understood it all, I mistranslated 'even shtia' as 'drinking rock' instead of 'foundation stone.' To my defense, 'shtia' does mean drink in modern Hebrew..


Before approaching the Wall I washed my hands in a ritual manner and proceeded to an area where I could put on tefilin, which are religious ornaments, so to speak, that are worn during non-Sabbath/holiday mornings. Just prior to the area with the tefilin, I noticed a funny sign that just seemed to be appropriate for the moment, not without biblical language. I wrapped the tefilin properly around my arm and approached the Wall for a prayer. As it has become common practice, I placed a note in the Wall which contained a prayer in it. This time, however, it was not for or from me but rather from a neighbor from Wilmette whose daughter will hopefully regain her health.

I left the Jewish Quarter soon thereafter and headed for the Jaffa Gate, via the Christian Quarter. Winding through alleyways I entered the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher through a back entrance I had not yet been through. At least my directional instincts were spot on. I continued through until I exited the Old City and walked through a nice, new shopping center in a neighborhood called Mamilla (I enjoy pronouncing the double 'L' like you would in Mexico). After admiring the shops and outdoor artwork and cafes, I headed for the center of town. There I found a cell phone branch where a friend had referred me to a specific agent. He actually offered a pretty good deal so I might take him up on it tomorrow.

I walked through a bit of a park for some more scenery and greenery along the way and walked down Derech Hevron (literally, Hebron Way), which is actually the way to get to Hevron, as the streets were named pretty logically back in the days of yore. Again, another great day. This time I owe a big thanks to the guide, who really knew his way around and made it quite enjoyable. I'd highly recommend him!

Bureaucracy Continued

Despite not-so-glorious activities, I'm having a great time thus far and enjoy running around doing errands. Every morning as I walk out of my spacious, adopted apartment in my beautiful, adopted neighborhood, I pass a canal of flowers overflowing from the yards around me. Quite a nice sight to begin the day, especially coupled with blue skies and a warm (and oftentimes, very hot) sun.

Today's goals were to open a bank account and register for health insurance.
After visiting the prospective banks in the morning, I came back in the afternoon to finish the business. Not because I had to do other things or that there were complications - simply because the banks close on Mondays and Tuesdays at 1pm for three hours!

I got an account at Bank HaPoalim, which I hope I'll be happy with. After all, their slogan roughly translates to 'to be first, this is required.' Let's see.

I also accomplished going to the post office to register for health insurance. Somewhat of a different system for sure. Tomorrow I'll have to take the form from the post office to the health insurance agency to complete registration.

On the way back I stopped at a small market in a gas station and bought some silver paper, or aluminum foil, and noticed this product. Yes, I finally found some Choke Ella. I wonder who at Nestle came up with that one. I know I wouldn't want it in my throat! Not sure if there are parental advisory warnings on the back label..

Finally - A Productive Day!

So today was the big day. I finally got my sweet, blue-gray te'udat zehut - my very own Israeli identity card.

Now I can finally take care of the other errands and chores that I need to take care of, though I'm still not sure which cell phone company, bank or health insurance to choose. They all seem to offer the 'best' deal in their respective markets and none of those deals seem to be anything to speak of. But we'll see where my research and conversations take me tomorrow..

After receiving my Israeli ID, I took a taxi with my new friend Yael (whom I met on the aliya flight) to an event at the King David Hotel. Along the way, the cab driver repeatedly took a rag and used it to rid his head and armpits of all the sweat that he had accumulated in the preceding few moments. Yes, it was over-air conditioned in the car, but it didn't seem to matter to his pores..or manners. But then again, those are harder to find the further from Chicago you venture.

The event was a discussion between Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli foreign minister, and Abu Ala (Ahmed Qurei), the former Palestinian Authority prime minister. I was pretty excited, since with just a few days in Israel I was able to attend such a high profile discussion. Qurei began the conversation by offering a Palestinian perspective. At first I thought it was pretty interesting to hear his point of view about the frustrations that peppered his government's attempts to negotiate with the Israelis. Then it really just amounted to a slather of complaints. Livni, by contrast, offered her vision and hopes for both peoples and posited this thought: it is necessary to ask what the price of an agreement is versus the price of not having an agreement, arguing that the latter is more costly and detrimental to the future of the State of Israel and that (stating this as she seemingly became emotional) now is the time to make decisions.

On the way to a cafe near the prime minister's residence, we walked past a tent that has been erected to petition the prime minister to push for the release of Sgt Gilad Shalit, an IDF soldier kidnapped by Hamas over four years ago. Hopefully there will be a happy ending to this story..

Since all of the outside tables were occupied, we kindly invited ourselves to sit with a gentleman who was sitting alone and reading. We had a good time joking around with him and, after sitting in the cafe for a couple of hours drinking teh nana, mint tea (really just simply mint leaves in hot water - excellent choice!), I caught the number 74 bus South to head back and watch the soccer match with some hummus. A nice, productive day. Tomorrow comes all of the decisions! Wish me luck..

Shabbat #1 in Jerusalem

With my Jerusalem host taking off for the weekend, I had to figure out something to do. And quick. It was already Thursday afternoon and by the same time the next day people would already be preparing for the sabbath and probably not take kindly to requests for new guests, or so I thought.

Thursday night I miraculously received a message on facebook from an old friend, dating back to my high school era. This friend, Miryam, actually responded to an earlier request to connect with her on the site and, after (admittedly) not sure of who I was, invited me to be with her family for Shabbat.

I walked from Baka, where I am staying, to San Simon, another nice, quiet neighborhood in what might be thought of as southern Jerusalem. Miryam's dining room has a panoramic vista of the Baka and Talpiot neighborhoods, which was incredible to take it. After catching up for a bit, I went to Friday night services with her husband Eli, who took me to a place with quite an eclectic mix of Jews from all over: Breslov rebbies, fur streimels, some settler-types and a kid from Wilmette.

Before returning the next day for lunch, I went to another synagogue nearby and ended up seeing two people that I know. Go figure. Similar to running into people in New York but with the added bonus of nice hospitality! I participated in the services, which were attended by a sizable Anglo population, by blessing the congregation twice during the Birkat Cohanim.

Last night after watching the Uruguay-Germany soccer match and debating the future of Israeli/Palestinian relations with Rafi, I took his dog Max for a long walk. One that I started in hopes of finding Beit Canada, the absorption center that will soon be my home. Without much luck I headed back, but not before stopping at the Goldman Tayelet and admiring the view of the city from the South (pictured above).

In all, this was a great first Shabbat experience here as a resident and I am certainly grateful for the kindness and tradition of hachnasat orchim (hospitality) found in Israel. And look forward to more of it!

On Board Aliya Flight LY 3004

The children are our future.
Yet eerily when the aircraft doors were sealed shut, they all began to cry and transformed themselves into a chorus of screams and crying. They should definitely have an 'only-kids' flight. Or, alternatively, spray the plane with a healthy dose of 'Baby-B-Gone.'
For all intents and purposes there could have been a posted sign that reads:
"Diaper Changing Station: Rows 10-58"
Just imagine what that would do..especially considering that 94 of the 232 of the new immigrants were children!

Take Off!
As the plane lifted off, so did the spirits of the 232 new olim.
Some began to tear; I just smiled with a surreal sort of amazement that the moment had finally come.

I noticed that on the flight, as the babies screamed in excitement for getting to Israel (or whatever it happened to be at all points throughout the journey), there were many people who were barefoot. Not just that they removed their flip-flops in their seats, but actually walking around barefoot. In the aisles, the galleys and..the bathrooms! Certainly not picture worthy.

I took an opportunity to congregate with other passengers in the stern of the aircraft for ma'ariv, the evening prayer service. This would definitely be suspect and probably not permitted aboard a US airline (as evidenced during a flight earlier this year), though was quite the norm on this flight. There was a particular prayer that I took note of that asks God for a blessing to gather the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth and return them to Israel. As might be imagined, I was struck with the repeated meaning and realization that I was 'returning' to Israel as a resident and that this blessing was, in a manner of speaking, going its course for me and the rest of my peers aboard this flight.

(The picture here is not of the evening service but rather of someone praying shacharit, the morning service, directly in front of my seat.)

The Pre-Flight Pause

Prior to going through security at JFK and boarding our flight, we paused for a brief departure ceremony. Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, the co-founder of Nefesh B'Nefesh, remarked that there are many different individuals and families that are going to be on the plane, yet we all share the same journey. There is the same magic that brings us together and he wanted to emphasize the importance of this 42nd Nefesh B'Nefesh flight and to reflect on the momentous occasion.

Rabbi Fass commented on Psalm 126: ״את שיבת ציון היינו כחולמים״
"The return to Zion we were like dreamers" - it would be like a dream, but it is your reality today.

I thought those were pretty simple, yet inspiring and exciting words, given our imminent return to Israel, as a group of 232 and part of a larger contingent of 3,000 new immigrants from just Nefesh B'Nefesh flights this summer alone.

Almost There - Stay Tuned!

Today the preparation of the last few months and weeks culminates in what will surely be an exciting beginning to this adventure.

I am in New York now in transit, just a few hours until I leave for the airport.
Checking last minute tidbits on the Nefesh B'Nefesh website I saw this video, prominently displayed on their homepage.

With a pointed sense of humor and interested in triggering smiles, it captures the significance and meaning this single plane ride has for the 400-plus travelers making aliya. To convey my spirit and approach to this endeavor and life change, I will envoke a Herzl-esque quote, attributed to none other than Henry Ford (a potential contemporary of Herzl's?):
"The best way to predict the future is to create it"

Stay tuned for the live webcast: http://www.nbn.org.il/live/

The arrival ceremonies are going to be broadcast on the above site after we land, which is at approximately 9:15am Israel time on 7/7/2010.