Israel, February 2013

In the spring of 2011, the UJC (our Progressive congregation in Hong Kong) began planning a trip to Israel during Chinese New Year in January 2012.  Our committee of four soon dwindled down to three - Rabbi Martha, Andrea and me.  After investigating several companies specializing in tours to Israel, we decided to use Arza World, especially since my friend, Cindy, who works for the Wexner Foundation in New York, gave Arza a hearty thumbs up.  We spent many hours customizing our itinerary.  We wanted our visit to please families with children as well as adults travelling without kids.  This was a labour of love as we eagerly looked forward to Israel in 2012.  However, due to several extenuating circumstances (including shul politics!), we decided to postpone the trip, and finally left in February 2013.

Most of us travelled on El Al, a very safe choice.  We felt like we were already in Israel as we boarded the run-down, no-leg-room, surly-serviced plane.  B'ruchim Ha'baim!  Welcome!  Flight attendants with attitude.  Flight attendants who had all been through military service - not to be messed with!  In spite of all that, our excitement increased as we neared Eretz Yisrael, and that excitement and enchantment stayed with us for the next 10 days.

We were a tired bunch who landed at 3 a.m.  Muki, our amazing guide, looked energetic as he herded us through immigration and onto our bus to Jerusalem.  Stan and Martha, our Rabbis, had arrived in Israel a few days before with their kids.  They were in the lobby of the Dan Panorama to greet us at 4:30!  Off to bed for a few hours, followed by a sumptuous Israeli breakfast, then onto the bus at 11 and away we went.


We fell in love with Jerusalem immediately.  Sparkling white limestone shining under a cloudless sky.  History, tradition, religion, politics.  I'm still not sure how or why Jeff and I became so completely emotionally attached to Jerusalem that first day!

Our first stop was the Haas Promenade overlooking the city.  Time for Muki's geography lesson.  He pointed out how Jerusalem lies on a hill between three valleys.  Stan led us in a Shehecheyanu blessing - a celebration of our arrival in Israel.  The view was so spectacular that we could have stayed there all day, but there was so much to see and do, and our itinerary was jam-packed.  According to Jewish legend, this was the spot where God showed Abraham where one day his descendants would build their holy city.

On to the history lesson at the Jerusalem Archaeological Park.  Walking among two thousand year-old enormous stones dating back to King Herod, we began to feel a connection to the Bible, and to the history of the Second Temple.   Jerusalem was the centre of religious life then, as it is today.





How did they manage to build the temple?  How could they hoist the enormous stones?  We haven't been to Egypt yet, but I'm sure the pyramids will astound me as much as the ancient ruins in Jerusalem. Jeff and I come from Montreal, an "old" city by North American standards, but nothing in Montreal, nor for that matter Hong Kong (except for the occasional Han dynasty tomb), dates back to ancient times.  In the photo on the left, Jeff is standing beneath the spot where a staircase led to the door in the wall.

The Archaeological Park is next to the entrance to the Kotel, the western retaining wall of the Second Temple, and the only remnant of that structure, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70CE.  Today, it is considered the most sacred site of the Jewish faith.  Time for our religion lesson.  As we passed through the entrance - men on the left, women on the right - I was filled with anger and frustration.  All of a sudden I was immersed in Israel's biggest domestic problem: the religious right, fundamentalism, mysoginism.  Jeff and the men in our group proceeded to the men's section of the wall, while we women were relegated to a small, segregated section, separated by a 7-foot fence.  Later on in our travels, we were shown some photos of the Wall dating back to the 1930s.  Men and women prayed together!  Enough said.  Or perhaps enough has not been said.  Needless to say, the Kotel did not move me in a spiritual way!

Women at prayer.  Notice the girl on the right texting!  Must be modern Orthodox!











What a day!  Geography, history, religion (and politics), and we hadn't even had lunch!

Off to Machaneh Yehudah, the world's best food market!  Crowded, noisy, busy (especially since it was erev Shabbat).  The smells were wonderful!  We've been so accustomed to Asian food, that we'd forgotten what fresh challah smells like.  And baklava!  And gorgeous cakes of halvah!  We ate our first (of many) falafels, and walked up and down the market streets feasting our eyes on all these good things (and sampling a few, too).  Instead of taking our bus back to the hotel, Jeff and I decided to walk, enjoying the sights of Jerusalem, and soaking up the sunshine.

Our first day wasn't quite done yet!  Off to Kol Haneshama, the large, Progressive synagogue near the German Colony (the area of Jerusalem where I would love to live), for Shabbat services.  The former cantor of our UJC, Shani, is an active member of that congregation, and, in honour of our group's visit, she led the service. Quite a different experience from Friday nights at the UJC.  Very "Kumbaya" style.  A throwback to the '60s.  Jeff and I expected the congregants to link arms and sway from side to side!  The experience was our second religion lesson of the day.  Progressive/Liberal/Reform/Conservative/Reconstructionist Judaism serves a small minority of Israelis, most of whom are transplanted Americans or Canadians.  The majority of Israelis are secular, however, when they do attend services, they go to Orthodox synagogues.  It has been a struggle for other Jewish congregations to make headway into Israel, especially because the country's Rabbinate only recognizes marriages and ceremonies performed by an Orthodox rabbi.

Oy! All this on our first day in Israel.  We had learned so much, and there was so much more to come.

Thankfully, the next day was Shabbat, a day of rest.  Not for Dale and Jeff.  After a brisk morning walk (in more sunshine!) along a bike/pedestrian path, we hailed a taxi and set off for the Israel Museum.  Time to practise my rusty Hebrew with the cab driver.  I was impressed how my ageing memory dredged up the Hebrew I learned at Camp Massad in the '50s and '60s.  We had the day to ourselves and planned to make the most of it.

The Israel Museum is the most impressive museum I've ever been to. We spent four hours there without a food or pit stop.  We found the antiquities section especially interesting.  In the photo on the left, there is a block of stone with a Hebrew inscription.  It is the only ancient artifact ever found that mentions King David.  The stone was found at the Tel Dan Reserve archaeological site (described later in the blog).  The Museum also houses four synagogue interiors from Europe, Asia, and the Americas.  The synagogue from Suriname is very much like the synagogue Jeff and I visited in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, several years ago.  It has sand on the floors.  One explanation holds that the sand represents the Israelite journey through the desert.  Another theory is that it represents the Conversos who were forced to convert to Catholicism during the Inquisition.  The Conversos covered their floors with sand in order to block out the sound of their prayers in the cellars of their homes.

Aside from the wonderful collections inside the Museum, we were impressed by the large-scale model of the Second Temple.  It is humbling to acknowledge how quickly the ancient Jewish civilization was extinguished, and how very little remains.

The jewel of the Museum is the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest known surviving manuscripts of works later included in the Torah.  A few days later, as we drove through the desert to Masada, Muki pointed out the hillside caves of Qumran where the scrolls were found.  The hot, dry climate of this region helped to preserve the scrolls, as well as other artifacts found in the caves.

I loved the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden with its grand, modern installations.  Our focus switched from ancient times to present-day.  There was even a handsome Botero figure riding a horse!  (My mother's favourite artist).

Next on our agenda was a walk through the Christian quarter of the Old City.  After stopping for falafel, we made our way through the stone streets to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  This site is as holy to Christians as the Kotel is to Jews.  It is said to be the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.  There has been a church on the site since the 2nd century, but the current building dates back to the 11th century.

That evening, our group had an interesting visit with Rabbi Joel Oseran at Beit Shmuel, the cultural centre of Hebrew Union College.  We discussed the current position of the World Union of Progressive Judaism and its role in modern-day Israel.  After Havdallah on the terrace overlooking the Old City, we proceeded to the Night Spectacular at the Tower of David Museum (photo on the left) within the Old City walls.  Cynical me ... when I saw this event listed on our itinerary, I assumed it would be a Disneyfied laser show which would only appeal to the children in our group.  However, I was blown away by the graphics, the music, and the setting.  How special to be sitting outside on the old walls, watching the story of Jerusalem under the clear, star-lit night!  (Dale and Martha in the photo on the right).
After the show, we strolled along the new Mamilla Pedestrian Arcade, and had dinner (NOT falafel) at Aroma Cafe, Israel's far tastier alternative to Starbucks!

Day three focused on Jerusalem, beginning with a walk along the Old City Ramparts.  Muki described the four distinct quarters of the Old City - Arab, Jewish (mainly Haredi these days), Christian, and Armenian.  Another clear day with spectacular views!  The almond trees were blooming.

We walked through the Jewish Quarter observing some of the sites excavated over the past 30 years, and stopped to shop for tallitot in the Cardo, a Byzantine street that is now the world's oldest shopping arcade.  While we women shopped, the rest of the group peered through a glass-covered opening to look at the ruins below.  The beautiful (and expensive!) silk tallit that I bought will always remind me of our visit to Israel.



After lunch (a foul-tasting Kosher hamburger made of mystery meat), we had an amazing tour of the Western Wall Tunnels, the underground continuation of the Western Wall along the Temple Mount.  There is a lot to see in the tunnels, including the remains of a water channel, as well as the Western Stone, one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by human beings without powered machinery.

We emerged from the Tunnels near the Kotel, where I observed a very distasteful episode.  Haredi men lingered about on the staircase, waiting for their prey.  The poor visitor didn't stand a chance.  The Haredi begged for money, and, once it was handed over, he and his accomplice "blessed" the donor.  Sure beats getting a real job.

Later that afternoon, Muki took the adults in our group to West Jerusalem, where we stopped to look at the Security Barrier.  It should be noted that the structure has only been put up in limited high-security areas.  The rest of the dividing line is regular wire fence with closed-circuit cameras.  The Barrier is the most controversial and negative image of Israel in today's world.  However, Muki affirmed that since its erection, there has been a substantial reduction in terrorist suicide bombings.  As a safety mechanism it has been successful (albeit at an enormous cost), but it has damaged Israel's reputation.  We also passed by several "settlements".  Muki explained that most of these began as affordable suburbs of Jerusalem after the 6 Day War.  Not all are aggressively antagonistic towards the Palestinians.  Lots of food for thought ...


When we returned to the hotel, we enjoyed presentations (and subsequent discussions) by Paul Liptz, a noted sociologist, and Noa Sattath, Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC).  Professor Liptz outlined the changing demographics of Israel and the challenges that Israel faces in the 21st century.  Noa Sattath's organization is a civil and human rights lobby group addressing the issues of religion and state.

Jeff and I were happy to have the evening to ourselves.  We ate on Ben Yehuda Street, and mulled over the day's events and the complex issues that were explained to us.

Day five!  We began with a lecture before breakfast.  Our speaker was Dr. Rachel Korazim, who discussed the memory of the Holocaust in contemporary Israeli society.  Rachel's talk, and our subsequent discussion, set the mood for our visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  Unfortunately, we ended up with a guide who made the experience of visiting Yad Vashem boring (and there is nothing boring or unmoving about the Holocaust)!  The new museum, designed by Moshe Safdie, opened a few years ago.  It replaced the original building, constructed in the '50s.  Safdie's design is a pyramid set into the hillside.  In addition to the museum, we visited the Children's Memorial (exceptionally moving) and the Avenue of the Righteous.  The Children's Memorial is a large, dark room, filled with stars, each representing one of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust.  The museum was very crowded with tourists and soldiers.  The interior is dark, the floors are concrete, and the exhibits are gruesome.  In my opinion, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. offers a better explanation of this terrible event.

Our afternoon activity was an excellent antidote to our sombre morning.  We took part in a dig at the Beit Guvrin caves.  Adults and kids inside the cave, hunkered down, sifting through the sand to find shards of pottery and small, ancient utensils.  These caves date back 2,300 years!  Jeff really loved this activity, but I thought it was staged (I've lived in China for too long - everything is fake unless proved otherwise).  At one point, Ethan, age 7, found an intact oil lamp.  Hmm.  I loved the second part of our visit - we (all the kids and three adults) crawled through the Maresha cave labyrinth, sometimes on our bellies, sometimes on our bums.  Not for the claustrophobic!  A very enjoyable afternoon.

Friends of mine from the March of the Living, Amanda and Mick, joined us for coffee that evening at our hotel.  It was wonderful to connect with them again.  Amanda and Mick made aliyah from England a number of years ago.  Their kids are in the army now.  Jeff and I appreciated their making time for us - they drove from the suburbs of Tel Aviv to visit us in Jerusalem.  Nice living in a small country with excellent highways!

The following day was my favourite of the entire tour.  In the morning, we drove out of Jerusalem, and descended to the Dead Sea and Mount Masada.  Imagine driving out of a busy, traffic-gridlocked city, entering a tunnel, and emerging at the other end of the tunnel into the desert, a completely different ecosystem!  We passed Bedouin villages - no longer nomadic, now merely shacks in the fields.  Stan had his binoculars ready to catch a glimpse of exotic birds.

When we arrived at Masada, we had the choice of taking the cable car to the top or walking up the snake path.  Little Ethan literally ran up the entire path, with Tal, the youth counsellor, close on his tail.  I was the next one up the hill, and I think I even impressed some of the kids!  I remembered climbing this path in the summer of '66.  Because it was so hot, we ascended at 4 a.m. before sunrise.  In my memory, I thought that the path was several kilometres long, when in fact it is only a half-hour climb.

The excavations at the top of the mountain are most impressive, and the views of the Dead Sea, Jordan on the other side, and the surrounding mountains are breathtaking.  In the photo on the right, you can see the markings of one of the sites where the Roman army camped when they laid siege to Masada in 73CE (after the destruction of the 2nd Temple).  Zealots had fled from Jerusalem and settled at the top of the mountain.  The community numbered 960.

Masada was an almost impregnable fortress.  It is the only mountain in the entire range that stands alone.  The Romans eventually built a ramp with a tower, and used a battering ram to breach the wall.  However, when they entered the fortress they found a "citadel of death".  The Zealots had set the buildings on fire and had committed mass suicide.  In modern times, many bar- and bat-mitzvahs have been conducted on the top of Masada, and the graduation ceremonies for Israeli soldiers have taken place there, too.  However, Israelis are now beginning to view Masada not as a symbol of Jewish heroism, but of defeat.  The Zealots gave up instead of fighting the Romans.

Archaeologists have unearthed so many ruins!  Herod's palace on the cliff (not for acrophobic Jeff), an ancient synagogue, a mikvah, water cisterns, etc.  We spent several hours following Muki from site to site.  So much to learn.

We all took the cable car down to sea level, had lunch in the cafeteria, and shopped in the gift store.

On to the Dead Sea!  Donning our oldest swimsuits, we ventured into the water.  It was coldish (and greasy), but "refreshing".  The salt buoys you up right away.  It's the most bizarre feeling!  The only position that you can assume is flat on your back.  And don't drink the water!!  We all couldn't stop giggling.  After a while, I started a synchro routine with some of the kids.  When we finally emerged from the sea, we relaxed in an indoor heated salt-water pool.  Spa!

A very romantic swim!

Followed by a romantic and delicious dinner at the Colony Restaurant in the German Colony.  The end of a perfect day!

The next morning, we checked out of the Dan Panorama, and bade farewell to Jerusalem.  We headed northwards along the Jordan Valley.  At Kibbutz Ashdot Ya'akov, we were greeted by one of the kibbutz elders.  He showed us how close the kibbutz is to the Jordanian border.  We then walked through the banana plants, and sampled some on the way.  My impression of kibbutzim being strictly farms was shattered when our guide pointed out the large plastics factory which is the "bread and butter" of this particular kibbutz.  The children went off to bake pita, while our guide gave us a history of the kibbutz, and explained how the ideology has been changing.  Originally, there was no organized religion on the site.  Today, there is an Orthodox synagogue!  Families now live together - children are no longer separated from their parents.  The kibbutz has become capitalist, with its members earning salaries according to their work.  Quite a change from pure socialist doctrine!

After lunch (probably another falafel), we visited Safed, the centre of Jewish mysticism (where are Madonna and her Kabbala friends?) for centuries.  Safed is a beautiful town.  There are several interesting old synagogues, including the Yosef Caro synagogue.  Rabbi Caro was a scholar and Kabbalist, who lived in the 16th century.  I recently read the book, Sacred Trash, which is about the Cairo Geniza, so I was very excited to see the geniza in the Caro synagogue.  Ancient texts and documents!  A librarian's delight.  We visited a few other synagogues, and then shopped for a channukiah.
This is the one that we bought (designed by Shraga Landesman).

That evening, we checked into Kfar Blum, a guest house in the Galilee, for one night.

Day eight.  The first activity was a jeep ride up to the Golan Heights.  I thought that this would be "kid stuff" but I was completely wrong!  The jeeps bounced along a very rugged, uneven road.  We clung to the seats and each other for dear life.  Ethan was in our jeep, and he squealed with delight, while the rest of us were terrified.  When we reached the plateau, we crowded into a burned-out Syrian bunker, while an Israeli soldier told us about the 6 Day War, and the strategic importance of capturing the Golan.  We were riveted.

The jeeps dropped us off at the Tel Dan Nature Reserve.  (Thank goodness we didn't have to go back the bumpy way we had come).  We had a pleasant walk through the park, and then arrived at the archaeological site where the stone with the only reference to King David was found.

After lunch, we visited Caesarea, one of Israel's most important cities during the Roman era.  There are marvellous ruins of the amphitheatre, the aqueduct (actually a dual aqueduct), and other structures.



We continued on to Tel Aviv, and checked into the Carlton Hotel on the "Tayelet" - the boardwalk along the Mediterranean.  Tel Aviv immediately reminded me of Miami - lots of hotels along the sea, and locals who looked like Floridians!

Jeff and I had a chic (expensive!) dinner at Rafael Bistro, then walked (several kilometres!) along Dizengoff Street, passing the Agam fountain.  We certainly know how to pack in all the sights.

The next day was Friday.  Off to Jaffa, for a stroll through the gentrified (art galleries, restaurants) Old City.  There are terrific views of Tel Aviv from Jaffa.  We spent some time in the Jaffa flea market (antiques - or fake antiques), known by its Hebrew name "shuk hapishpishim".

We were very moved by our visit to Independence Hall, the site of Ben Gurion's monumental proclamation of the State of Israel in 1948.  The unassuming room where such an historic event occurred has been maintained just as it was 65 years ago.

Lunch on the run in the world's second best food market - Levinsky Street!  Bourekas, olives, halvah, baklava, and other Mediterranean delicacies.  Such fun!  Especially when Jeff discovered the halvah store and bought huge slabs to bring back to Hong Kong.

Reminders of Hong Kong - a shop that sold chopsticks, and a Chinese medicine clinic!






We enjoyed the rest of our afternoon at the Carmel open-air market.  The jewelry was lovely, and I bought a modern silver magen David necklace for myself.  We moseyed back to the hotel (walk, walk, walk), relaxed, and joined the group for Shabbat dinner at the hotel.

Saturday was the last day of the group visit (Jeff and I, Stan and Martha stayed on until Sunday night).  We visited the Armed Forces Memorial at Latrun, a pivotal point on the old Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road, and the site of fierce battles from Biblical times through the '48 War of Independence.  The kids and I enjoyed climbing on the tanks outside the museum.  Next to the museum is the Wall of Names, which displays the names of all the fallen soldiers of the Armored Corps, from 1948 until the present day.  It is very much like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.

Nearby, we visited the Ayalon Institute, which was a clandestine munitions factory in the '40s during the British mandate.  The factory was set up in the cellar beneath the kibbutz laundry.  The noise of the washing machines masked the noises below.





Later that afternoon, we said goodbye to our UJC "family", most of whom were travelling back to Hong Kong that night.  Jeff and I dined at romantic Nana Bar in front of a roaring fire, and raised a toast to our amazing trip!

We still had one day more, and in true Dale and Jeff fashion, we didn't stop from early morning until we boarded our plane that evening.  We began with a brisk walk along the waterfront.  Later that morning, Martha and I enjoyed a lovely coffee break with Evan Fallenberg.  Evan is an author and translator.  American by birth, he has lived in Israel for many years.  Last year, our book club read A pigeon and a boy by Meir Shalev, which Evan had translated beautifully.  This year, we read Evan's book Light Fell.  Evan was so generous in agreeing to meet us.  I'm hoping that he will contact me when he comes to Hong Kong this summer to teach a creative writing seminar at City U.

After meeting with Evan, Jeff and I took a sherut - Israel's version of a minibus - to the Eretz Israel Museum.  We spent quite a lot of time at the outdoor excavations, and admired the tiled floors from ancient synagogues.

Adventurously! we hopped a city bus and made our way to Rothschild Boulevard.  After fortifying ourselves with one more falafel, we walked the length of this beautiful street, admiring the Bauhaus buildings.  Then back to the hotel for our departure.
We had an amusing episode at the airport.  Security is very strict in Israel.  When we walked in, we had to put all of our luggage through a scanner.  My suitcase was rejected.  I had to bring it to a security officer, who commanded me to unzip the case.  I was puzzled that he was so interested in our dirty laundry!  Well, he rummaged through the clothes, and then pointed to a plastic bag.  "What's in there?" he asked.  "Halvah!" I answered triumphantly.  He didn't even smile.

What a wonderful trip!  Jeff and I now have special memories of perhaps the most interesting country in this world.