Jerusalem visit
Last week there was a hiatus in my messages because we were in Jerusalem for four days, including Shabbat, principally for a barmitzvah. But, while we were there we managed to cram in some interesting visits.
The barmitzvah was that of Netanel Kaye, who is spending a year with his parents, Sherrill and Jeff, in Modi'in. They took the opportunity of being here to have his barmitzvah at the Kotel, the "Wall" in Jerusalem. Since the barmitzvah was due to begin early we were to be there at 8.15 am Thursday morning. So we went up to J'sam on Weds morning and stayed overnight at my favorite hotel, Beit Belgia, the faculty club on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University. Everybody knows me there because I've been going there every week for two years or so and because I had my art show there.
Since we had some time to spare we went around the area near Jaffa Road and Ben Yehuda Street (a pedestrain mall) to try to buy 18 shofrot (pl. of shofar) for our daughter-in-law Sharon Cohen who teaches a confirmation class each year at their Reform shool in Livermore, CA. She presents each graduating bar/barmitzvah with a shofar each year. So we did a Judaica store crawl around the area. In the process we met some interesting people, including a S. American couple living in Amsterdam We found a very nice store and owner on Ben Yehuda Street itself who had a nice collection of shofrot and was willing to deal. So eventually we came away with the shofrot.
Then we had a reservation to go around the Begin Museum that is over by the Montefiore Windmill and has a magnificent view of the Sultan's Pool and the Walls of the old city. It has been open for about a year, and is very modern, with videos of Begin's famous story, how he was the leader of the Revisionist youth movement Betar in Poland. How he evaded the Nazis by going to Lithuania, but was then captured by the Soviets and sent to Siberia. How he then joined the Polish Army and managed to move to Palestine, where he became underground head of the Revisionist Irgun Zvai Leumi (national army). After the State was established he spent 29 years (!) as the leader of the opposition before he was elected PM of Israel in 1977. There was the famous video of him, Sadat and Carter signing the Israel-Egyptian peace treaty in Washington.
That evening we had a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants "Olive and Fish" to celebrate my 68th birthday, with our old friends visiting for the barmitzvah, Manny & Florence the barmitvah boy's grandparents, Barry & Ramah, his uncle and aunt, and Barry Garfield. We had all been at high school together in London over 50 years ago!
On Thurday morning we took a cab to the Dung Gate (Sha'ar Ha'ashput, really "trash" gate, from where the inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem disposed of their trash into the Valley of Hinnom nearby). We went with the assembled guests through the new center for the archeological excavations of the wall area directly to the southern-most part of the Kotel beyond the ramp that had been left by the Israelis to the gate in the wall. Sherrill had discovered that (for a fee) you can use this site for barmitzvahs, and it was wonderful because it was quiet, there were no other parties there, and we were right up to the Kotel. Just next to us, above the excavated area, was the spur in the Wall from Robinson's arch, that had been one of the principal entries into the Temple area from the ancient City of Jerusalem, before it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 ce, and was not rediscovered by Robinson until the mid-1800's. After the partial ceremony, that was only a taste of the full service that was to be held on Shabbat, we repaired to a wonderful restaurant for lunch, literally under the arches in one entrance to the Wall area, that had once been a Crusader hall.
Then, after a rest we met our friends at the Israel Museum to see the newly installed model of the ancient city of Jerusalem in 66 ce, that had recently been transferred from the Holyland Hotel. In its location at the Museum it is much more impressive, since it has much more space and you can look down over the whole of it. There one can see the stairs that once led up to Robinson's arch, the stairs for the main entry into the Temple from the south side that are still there, although partially built over (deliberately) by later Arab structures and the other archway called Warren's arch that is still there but can only be seen from below in the men's praying area. After that we visited parts of the Israel Museum, but it was very quiet, few tourists and not many special exhibits.
Then on Friday morning we visited the new Herzl Museum on Mount Herzl, which has only just been opened. It was very similar to the Begin Museum in concept, showing his early years, the Dreyfus affair, then his founding of political Zionism, the First Zionist Congress in Basle in 1898, where he said famously that "today I founded the Jewish State." Then in his book "Altneuland" he predicted that a Jewish Stae would come into existence 50 years hence, and he was precisely right, it was as you know founded in 1948!
Finally we went to the Ramat Rachel Hotel, on the southern border of Jerusalem for the full festivities of the barmitzvah. Ramat Rahel was the scene of very heavy fighting in 1948, when the kibbutzniks with reinforcements from Jerusalem, held off the invading Arab armies. From our window we could see Bethlehem, (Beit Lehem) just up the road, and the new Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa under construction nearby.
Needless to say Netanal did a flawless performance of his barmitzvah, reading the whole Torah portion. We spent a lot of time eating wonderful food and chatting with our old friends. Then we came home motzei shabbat, full and happy. It was a wonderful visit to Jerusalem.
The barmitzvah was that of Netanel Kaye, who is spending a year with his parents, Sherrill and Jeff, in Modi'in. They took the opportunity of being here to have his barmitzvah at the Kotel, the "Wall" in Jerusalem. Since the barmitzvah was due to begin early we were to be there at 8.15 am Thursday morning. So we went up to J'sam on Weds morning and stayed overnight at my favorite hotel, Beit Belgia, the faculty club on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University. Everybody knows me there because I've been going there every week for two years or so and because I had my art show there.
Since we had some time to spare we went around the area near Jaffa Road and Ben Yehuda Street (a pedestrain mall) to try to buy 18 shofrot (pl. of shofar) for our daughter-in-law Sharon Cohen who teaches a confirmation class each year at their Reform shool in Livermore, CA. She presents each graduating bar/barmitzvah with a shofar each year. So we did a Judaica store crawl around the area. In the process we met some interesting people, including a S. American couple living in Amsterdam We found a very nice store and owner on Ben Yehuda Street itself who had a nice collection of shofrot and was willing to deal. So eventually we came away with the shofrot.
Then we had a reservation to go around the Begin Museum that is over by the Montefiore Windmill and has a magnificent view of the Sultan's Pool and the Walls of the old city. It has been open for about a year, and is very modern, with videos of Begin's famous story, how he was the leader of the Revisionist youth movement Betar in Poland. How he evaded the Nazis by going to Lithuania, but was then captured by the Soviets and sent to Siberia. How he then joined the Polish Army and managed to move to Palestine, where he became underground head of the Revisionist Irgun Zvai Leumi (national army). After the State was established he spent 29 years (!) as the leader of the opposition before he was elected PM of Israel in 1977. There was the famous video of him, Sadat and Carter signing the Israel-Egyptian peace treaty in Washington.
That evening we had a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants "Olive and Fish" to celebrate my 68th birthday, with our old friends visiting for the barmitzvah, Manny & Florence the barmitvah boy's grandparents, Barry & Ramah, his uncle and aunt, and Barry Garfield. We had all been at high school together in London over 50 years ago!
On Thurday morning we took a cab to the Dung Gate (Sha'ar Ha'ashput, really "trash" gate, from where the inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem disposed of their trash into the Valley of Hinnom nearby). We went with the assembled guests through the new center for the archeological excavations of the wall area directly to the southern-most part of the Kotel beyond the ramp that had been left by the Israelis to the gate in the wall. Sherrill had discovered that (for a fee) you can use this site for barmitzvahs, and it was wonderful because it was quiet, there were no other parties there, and we were right up to the Kotel. Just next to us, above the excavated area, was the spur in the Wall from Robinson's arch, that had been one of the principal entries into the Temple area from the ancient City of Jerusalem, before it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 ce, and was not rediscovered by Robinson until the mid-1800's. After the partial ceremony, that was only a taste of the full service that was to be held on Shabbat, we repaired to a wonderful restaurant for lunch, literally under the arches in one entrance to the Wall area, that had once been a Crusader hall.
Then, after a rest we met our friends at the Israel Museum to see the newly installed model of the ancient city of Jerusalem in 66 ce, that had recently been transferred from the Holyland Hotel. In its location at the Museum it is much more impressive, since it has much more space and you can look down over the whole of it. There one can see the stairs that once led up to Robinson's arch, the stairs for the main entry into the Temple from the south side that are still there, although partially built over (deliberately) by later Arab structures and the other archway called Warren's arch that is still there but can only be seen from below in the men's praying area. After that we visited parts of the Israel Museum, but it was very quiet, few tourists and not many special exhibits.
Then on Friday morning we visited the new Herzl Museum on Mount Herzl, which has only just been opened. It was very similar to the Begin Museum in concept, showing his early years, the Dreyfus affair, then his founding of political Zionism, the First Zionist Congress in Basle in 1898, where he said famously that "today I founded the Jewish State." Then in his book "Altneuland" he predicted that a Jewish Stae would come into existence 50 years hence, and he was precisely right, it was as you know founded in 1948!
Finally we went to the Ramat Rachel Hotel, on the southern border of Jerusalem for the full festivities of the barmitzvah. Ramat Rahel was the scene of very heavy fighting in 1948, when the kibbutzniks with reinforcements from Jerusalem, held off the invading Arab armies. From our window we could see Bethlehem, (Beit Lehem) just up the road, and the new Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa under construction nearby.
Needless to say Netanal did a flawless performance of his barmitzvah, reading the whole Torah portion. We spent a lot of time eating wonderful food and chatting with our old friends. Then we came home motzei shabbat, full and happy. It was a wonderful visit to Jerusalem.
posted by Jack Cohen at 3:05 PM
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