Dani and Yaacov

Dateline: September 29

So our group tour is over now and several of us are headed home.  Others are continuing in Israel.  Betty is visiting family.  Gayle is off to Eliat and Petra.  Tobi, Lonnie and Albert are headed to Tel Aviv.  Becky and John are also headed to Tel Aviv.  Others are staying around, too.  Just want to add a quick thank you to Tobi Taub for her fantastic photos.  Several of the photos in this blog are from her.  She was our unofficial photographer, taking picts of everything from the sign above the door to the food to the crowd moving from event to event.  You have a great eye and thank you for making the visual recording of everything for us.

Thank you to Danielle of Da’at Tours for organizing a great visit and to Lital Yaacob of the JCAA/Federation in Austin for making sure we got off to a great start (and who has spent this time with the Ballet Austin dancers making sure their tour goes off with minimum issues).  They made things work behind the scenes and we wanted you to know that we noticed!  Thank you, too, to Cookie Ruiz, CEO of Ballet Austin and Jay Rubin, CEO of the JCAA for your leadership and your vision to put this trip together for us.

This last blog is dedicated to our amazing tour guide, Dani Margolis, and our terrific bus driver, Yaacov. Our trip was destined to be great just because of the subject matter and the opportunity to see Ballet Austin perform in Israel.  But it was even better because of Dani and Yaacov.

Not only did Dani share the history and facts of every place we visited, but he has skill that goes far beyond just the fact.  He’s a great story teller, making the history come alive for us (literally, he did this on Masada with his costumes and sword).  He’s a great tour guide, taking us to the ‘greatest hits’ but giving us so much more than just the facts of the places.  He had a well-loved copy of the Bible with him, with page markers and passages marked up to make the connection about what we saw with what the Bible says.  He’s an empathetic leader, and he was sensitive to each of our conditions, issues, and needs.  Nothing dropped through the cracks, whether it was to get to a site or tour on time, or a late checkout of our hotel rooms, or making special arrangements for a side trip, or ensuring I found torah crowns.  He was on top of it all.  He has his own website, www.danimargolis.com, and is a professional tour guide.  You can also follow his adventures on his facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/EcoToursIsrael

Yaacov was the ‘silent but strong’ partner…always on the ball, always bringing our cool, comfortable bus to us, getting us close to the sites to minimize our walk, waiting patiently for us to be ready to go to the next destination.  He called Dani the ‘talking man’…and we loved both of them for all they did for us.

Dani taught us a word/phrase every day.  I recorded some of them, but I hope others on the trip will add to this (just add a comment with our other words…).  Here’s an updated list (thank you Dani):

Sababa- fantastic (cool)
Para, para- one cow at a time (said pa-rah)
Chataf t’jananah- freak out
Yalla- lets go
Sof haderech- end of the road
Srita Amooka – a deep scratch…he’s loopy!!
Kefak hey!! – hip hip hooray!
Ptzsatsa- the bomb ( good looking lady)
Ezeh Kli- what a tool ( good looking man)
Chai be seret- living in a movie
Rega rega- wait a minute ( with hand signals!)
Lehitraot- see you
Ani gamoor- I’m finished!
Shanty- laid back
Ptzazot legabot-bombs to the eyebrows!
Doogery Doogery- straight in Bedouin!
Ani Ba’ananim- I’m in the clouds ( in heaven!)
Ta’aseh Jesta- do someone a favor

Thank you, Dani and Yaacov!  You guys made the trip sababa!

Our Farewell Dinner: The Ticho House

Dateline: Sunday, Sept. 29, pm

Since this is our last day, we have to head to the airport after dinner.  Several of us have flights later tonight (11pm or later) and some are staying in Israel for a few extra days.  Tomorrow night, Monday, is the final performance of the Light project and several of our delegation are staying to see it open in Jerusalem.   It’s at the Gerard Behar Center, now a gorgeous theater, but earlier in it’s life, it was the site of the trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann.  Some of us were not able to stay for it.   We will add another blog  once we collect the experiences and stories from those who attend.

Therefore, our dinner tonight is our last official event of our tour, and our tour organizers didn’t disappoint.  We had dinner at the Little Jerusalem Restaurant in the Anna Ticho House.  Anna was a local artist and her paintings were on display.  The house is part of the Israel Museum.   The meal was great (as always) with not only a number of choices and some great wine, but a private room and a nice, formal setting.

But what made this dinner special was the closeness of all of our delegation.  We came to Israel initially as two groups…the Ballet Austin group and the Jewish Community group, but we leave as one cohesive, special group who has shared so many experiences together in Israel.   It was a beautiful ending to our experience.

Shalom!

Finding Torah Crowns

Dateline: September 29, Sunday afternoon

After the museum, off to shop.  We went to Ben Yehuda Street in search of treasures.

I’ve been commissioned by my friend’s daughter’s Confirmation class at Congregation Beth Israel (our Temple in Austin) to find Torah crowns, or remonim, which are used to decorate the top ends of the rollers of the Torah scrolls.  The class collected donations to purchase a gift for the Temple in honor of their Confirmation last spring, and I was asked to purchase the gift in Israel.

This is not an everyday purchase so we had to hunt for the remonim.  I’ve probably driven our tour guide crazy asking where I should shop for them.  But it’s now our last few hours in Israel and the time has been blocked out for doing some activities on our own.  Bobby, Gayle and I headed out in search of remonim.

Most remonim are sterling silver, and therefore very expensive (and more than the budget I’ve been given).  We head to Ben Yehuda street, a pedistrian street known for shopping.  As expected, it was full of gift shops, cafes and shoppers, both tourists and locals.  My plan: stop in the first Judaica store I see and ask for directions to a store with Torah crowns.

We found some amazing remonim in a little shop of Judaica just after entering Ben Yehuda Street.  Run by a little, old Jewish man, the shop was not more than 150 sq. ft.  But he had two sets of remonim.  The first was sterling silver, and way to busy for my taste.  Good thing, too, because they were really expensive.  I was going to ask him for directions to another shop that might have some I could afford.  When I responded that, while beautiful, these were out of my price range, he said to wait just a minute and he went hunting around his shop.

On the top shelf, near the back, behind rows of other treasures, he brought out a pair of remonim that were just what I was looking for.  It was meant to be — bashert.  He said he would give us a ‘good price’ if we paid in cash.  Of course I had planned to put this on my credit card, so I didn’t have enough shekels or dollars (he would take both).   Fortunately, Bobby and Gayle helped out.  So borrowing from my friends, we had enough cash, and we got the crowns.  Here’s a photo of Gayle and me holding the crowns. They are silver, with a Star of David on the top, and with etched pictures of the old city of Jerusalem all around the crown.  Like many  remonim, they have bells hanging from them, too.   We hope CBI will love them as much as we do.

After our great find, we browsed a number of the shops looking for treasures to bring back home with us.  We then headed to the Kind David hotel, which we were told had an amazing view of the old city (it did) and a very interesting lobby (it did).  We stopped here to have a glass of wine on our way back to the hotel.

Back again later!

Israel Museum

Dateline: September 29, Sunday

After our discussion about the Israeli political system, and a nice, concluding discussion about our trip with just our delegation, we headed out for a few hours at the Israel Museum.

This museum is the national museum of Israel with dozens of exhibits, sculptures, and precious artifacts from Israel’s history.  We could not see the whole thing.  To do it justice one would need a few days minimum to see it all.  But we had some time for some highlights.  Our group went in several directions. Here’s what a few of us did:

We started out with our tour guide, Dani, at an outside exhibit of the Second Temple Period Model of Jerusalem.  It was a miniature representation of the Temple, and all the neighborhoods around it, based on geological and archeological data that has been discovered over the years.  Built in 1966 by Holyland Hotel owner Hans Kroch in memory of his son Jacob, who fell in Israel’s War of Independence.  It was moved from the hotel grounds to the Israel Museum in 2006.

We then went to the Shrine of the Book, the exhibit with the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The building holding the Dead Sea Scrolls was built as a monument to dark and light and gave a very modern, but spiritual feeling to the garden.  The building housing the Scrolls is a large, white circular dome with a water fountain around it.  Right across the plaza is a stark, black marble wall.  Is this dark/light? or good/bad? or yin/yang?   We got the feeling of how life is about living with opposites here.

We then descended into the building and saw the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The room with the scrolls is just incredible.  We were not allowed photos in this room, but here’s a picture from their website.  It may be hard to tell from this photo, but the display is massive. You can see the Shrine of the Book is a large scroll and around it are the sections of the Book of Isaiah that they found almost completely in tact in 1947, when the scrolls were found.   The backdrop here is the roof, which is the white dome from the above photo. Here’s a quote from the museum website about this scroll:

The Great Isaiah Scroll  is one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Qumran in 1947. It is the largest (734 cm) and best preserved of all the biblical scrolls, and the only one that is almost complete. The 54 columns contain all 66 chapters of the Hebrew version of the biblical Book of Isaiah. Dating from ca. 125 BCE, it is also one of the oldest of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some one thousand years older than the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible known to us before the scrolls’ discovery.

We then headed out to see some of the rest of the museum.   To our good fortune, there was a special exhibit of King Herod, so we headed that way.  After seeing Masada and the Western Wall, and learning about King Herod’s contribution to the Jewish community, we thought this might be a very insightful exhibit.  They had great displays.  Here’s the website’s overview of the exhibit (the exhibit is only there until Jan, 2014).

The first exhibition entirely dedicated to Herod the Great, Israel’s greatest builder and one of the most controversial figures in Jewish history. Large reconstructions and new finds from Herod’s palaces in Herodium, Jericho, and other sites are on display. Exhibited to the public for the veryfirst time, these artifacts shed new light on the political, architectural, and aesthetic influence of Herod’s rule (37–4 BCE). Herod’s tomb – discovered at Herodium after a 40-year search by the late Prof. Ehud Netzer of the Hebrew University – holds pride of place. The exhibition is held in memory of Prof. Netzer, who fell to his death in 2010 on the site of his discovery.

We had a few minutes left to explore, and this isn’t nearly enough time to see everything.  We wondered through the Jewish Arts and Life wing.  Others in our group found a Botticelli exhibit, also there only until January.  And others visited an exhibition of Fauve and Impressionists (leaving in November 2013).  Even the permanent collection had amazing artifacts.  One sculpture I was sorry to miss was the Ahava sculpture.  Ahava means love, and this sculpture, done by Robert Indiana, sits in the Art Garden.  We didn’t visit that part of the museum, but here’s a photo from the museum website.

Back again later!

Israeli Political Discussion

Dateline: Sunday, Sept. 29 am

This is our last day as a whole group, and it’s a full day.  Our morning began with a group breakfast in the hotel. Have I mentioned how amazing these breakfasts are in the hotels?  They are feasts with dozens of foods.

 

In the Imbal, our current hotel, we have 8-9 ‘food bars’ of food.  One is hot foods (blintzes, oatmeal, quiches, omelet bar with someone making omelets for us to order, pancakes or waffles).  One is just breads with about 10-12 different types of roles, loaves, bagels, crackers and jams, butters, peanut butter, honey, etc.  One is yogurts and fresh fruit and toppings for yogurt like granola, nuts, dried fruit).  One is salads (yes, salads for breakfast…) with everything from a lettuce salad with choice of carrots, beets, sprouts, and several other items).  One is cheeses (I’d say there must be 15-20 different cheeses to choose from).  One is fish and cold cuts.  One is sweets (sweet rolls, muffins, and about a dozen other choices).  One is beverages (juices-orange, grapefruit, and usually something else), water, ice tea).  And one is cereals (usually with another kind of granola, flakes, cherrios, coco-puff, etc.)  There is also a platter of halavah loaves, which is a sweet, sesame-based food that I remember having as a kid.

Everything is nicely laid out on platters or bowls so it’s overwhelming to say the least.  Seems like everyone on the trip is sampling different things each day, but we all have our favorites.  Mine? oatmeal or other cereal, fresh cut grapefruit, veggie omelet and taste of something else each day…today?  Carrot salad and it was yummy.

But the event this morning is a lecture by Professor Reuven Hazan from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem about Israeli governmental structure and political environment.  We learned about the multiple party system in Israel, and how it functions.  Of particular interest to me was that anyone can form a party, and if your party gets enough votes,  your party will get seats in the Parliament.

The system is, of course, very different than the US.  We have  executive (President) and legislative (Congress with 2 houses-House and Senate) branches.  We elect individuals from our local districts to represent us in the legislative branch, and we elect a President, usually from one of two major parties.  In Israel, the whole country votes for their party, not for an individual.  There is one ‘house’- the Parliament, with 120 seats divided up according to the percent of votes a party gets.  Then the party with the most seats is in charge of setting up a government, which is a partnership between that party and as many other parties as necessary to form a majority- at least 61 seats.  This partnership is a legal entity, with contracts between the leading party and the partners specifying what the party will get by joining the majority.

Once there is an alliance between enough parties to get at least 61 seats, the government is ‘formed’ and they go to work passing legislation, etc to get things done.  The head of the party with the most votes is the Prime Minister.  The lead party of the majority has a lot of power.  Not only do they negotiate the contracts with the other parties to form the government, they can remove a party (but they would have to fill in with another party, to continue to have the majority of seats in the Parliament).

Suffice it to say that this system is significantly different than the US and I’m sure you can read about exactly how this works at many other places on the web.  For our purposes, the discussion centered around how the US press reports on the election results, but usually doesn’t stick around to see how the government is formed, and its this latter step that really determines the priorities of the new government.  And, although we use similar words like ‘parties’ and ‘houses’, they are really very different in Israel versus the US.

Jamie and Liz Baskin share their impressions of the morning here:

Back again later!!

The Tunnels Under the Old City

Dateline September 28, Saturday PM

Tonight is our last full night together as a group, and we are all beginning to feel it.  We’ve really become a close group and have found we really enjoy getting together for our tours and activities.  So when we headed back to the Old City for a tour of the tunnels, we stopped off first for some dinner at an Armenian Restaurant near the Jaffa Gates (the gates into the Old City, near the Christian and Armenian Quarters).

Dinner was good, and, as we’ve done just about every meal, we all ordered too much.  The salad was huge, the calamari and chicken wings were way more than anyone person could eat.  Personally, I just ordered a salad with chicken, but the salad was beautiful and very large.  It included lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber.  But it also had walnuts, sesame sticks and pomegranate seeds.  It was yummy.  But the group once again was a little silly, and on the menu was “water pipe”.  Someone ordered two of them for our group (here they are used just after the end of the meal).  So just before we paid the bill, the server brought us two water pipes, and loaded inside is lemon and tea leaves.  We all tried it, but here is a photo of Gayle.

We headed over to the Western Wall tunnels after dinner.  These are excavation/ archeological sites and we were treated to one of the most incredible events of our trip.    We entered near the Western Wall, down a small street nearby.  The site is an active archeological digging site, but it’s also a tourist attraction and there are a few synagogues in the area also.  We also noted that women, who are unable to pray on the men’s side of the Western Wall, had a few areas off the tunnels to pray, which actually put them closer to the original Temple runs and hence closer to G-d .   The tunnels were really interesting, but the photos don’t really convey how much we learned this time.  To get to the tunnels, we desended a flight of stairs, and the adventure began.  This photo shows the entrance.

Once under ground, Dani gave us an overview of what we were about to see.  That’s what is shown in this photo.  There was a high-tech display room that tour guilds can use to tell the story of what happened to the Temple.  Dani shared artist renderings of the plaza and the area around the Temple at the time it was flourishing, then burned, then reconstructed.  This was useful to give us a visual idea of what we should look for.   Then as we moved along the path, deeper into the tunnels, we had a foundation to build upon.

One of the first things we saw was the Western Wall, but the part is under ground now.  We learned that there are some very massive rocks that were somehow moved to build the wall.   In fact Dani shows us one area where the rock was longer than the bus we’ve been driving around in all week.

We also saw an area where the women come to pray.  This area means that women can get closer to the holy site than just the women’s area outside, next to the men’s side.  This is still a live archeological digging site so there were a number of off-limit areas.

We continued to walk along this small corridor which is right next to the Western Wall.  We found the old streets that used to run along the wall (and the rock panel that was about to have been placed in the street, but was left along the side).  We saw some of the other layers of the wall that had been added after the original one.  We saw a cistern full of wanter that was used for storing water for the city.  All in all, fascinating place.

Back again later!

The Old City-Jerusalem

Dateline: September 28, Saturday

This is our last weekend and today is our only day to explore the old city of Jerusalem.  It’s a walled city with so many incredible sites that we will only just ‘skim the surface’ of this holy place.  This blog will have a lot of photos, but like some of the other sites we’ve seen, they don’t begin to show how incredible this city is.

We walked from our hotel to the Old City.  Along the way we saw the famous King David Hotel (where heads of state stay when they are here).  This hotel is one of the oldest in town, and has incredible views of the old city from the balcony.   Several told us that it was worth visiting, just to see the ornate lobby.  Unfortunately, it was very full this weekend, and no one other than guests were allowed in. So we had to pass on seeing the inside.  Directly across the street is the YMCA.  This Y has an Arab-Jewish school, a chapel, a theater, a restaurant, a hotel, and a gym.   Now our group is getting a little carried away in this photo, but we couldn’t resist acting out the letters and having a bit of fun.

We entered the Old City through the Jaffa gates.  This put us right on a main street between the Christian and the Armenian quarters.  The city is divided into 5 sections (The Christian, Armenian, Muslim and Jewish quarters and the Temple Mount).    Since it’s shabbat until sundown, there is not much happening in the Jewish Quarter, but the other 3 areas are very busy.  Here is a 10 min video of Dani telling us a bit about the history of old city.  He has been such a great story teller all throughout this trip, that I thought it would be great to record some of his work for this blog.

 

The Christian Quarter

Our morning was spent in the Christian Quarter.  The highlight was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  It’s the church on the site where Jesus was crucified and entombed.  There are a number of very holy rooms and artifacts here.  The church today is still the destination of Christian pilgrims and was very crowded.  It was built by Constantine after his mother, Helene, visited the area, found a piece of wood that she believed was part of the cross carried by Jesus.  She wanted a church built on this spot, and her son did that about 326 A.D.  One stone on the floor is believed to be the stone that Jesus was rested upon after taken down from the cross, and it is believe to have holy powers.  Pilgrims bring items and lay them down for a minute or two on this slab of rock, and believe that the items will be blessed.

We then had a nice lunch and did a little shopping in the Christian Quarter.  Our group went separate ways but ended up at the same cafe for lunch.  This was just a little falafel place along the shuk, the marketplace.  We all had a falafel or shawarma in a pita.  Ironically at this cafe, one of the men sitting there was an Israeli who lives in Dallas who is back here visiting family.  He joined us for a bit of Texas discussion and some fun.  The Hookem Horns sign is universal!  Here’s a photo of our group with our guest.

The Jewish Quarter

We then headed over to the Kotel,  the Western Wall.  This time we visited in daylight, and we walked through the Jewish Quarter (still celebrating Shabbat) in daylight.  We saw a number of interesting streets, artifacts, archeological sites, and daily living of the Jews who live here.  Dani explained to us what life was like in this area, and he showed us the old streets, the areas where shops were set up, the new Synagogue, and more on our way to the Western Wall.

Once we got to the Western Wall, we separated into gender groups, since the men do not go on the women’s side and vice versa.  This is one of the holiest sites of the Jews.  This wall is the exterior wall of the area surrounding the Temple Mount.  All my life, I thought this was the western wall of the Temple built by Solomon, but that is wrong.  It’s the western wall surrounding the area that included the Temple.   The Temple is considered the holy place for Jews because it is believed to be the house of G-d.  The wall itself is a wonder, but more on that in the next blog about the tunnels that have been excavated next to the wall.  What we saw were many Jews praying at the Wall.  Some of us wrote prayers and wishes on small pieces of paper, folded them up to really small pieces of paper, and put them into the cracks in the wall.  The belief is that prayers will be answered if put on paper and left on the wall.

From here we went back to the hotel for some R&R (and to rest our feet).  We intend to return tonight for a tour of the tunnels under the Old City.

Back again later!

Israeli Lone Soldiers

Dateline September 27, Shabbat

Tonight, Friday night, is the beginning of the sabbath and our group had a Shabbat Dinner in our hotel.   Our Shabbat dinner included a short service and a blessing over the wine and the bread.   Dinner was a 5-course affair, beginning with an appetizer of liver or fish.  We then had consume with kreplach (a dumpling).  The main course was chicken with vegetables.  That was followed by a salad.  The meal ended with a  dessert sampler plate.  The nice thing about this meal was that we were all sitting at one large table, so it felt like a family.  Here’s a photo of Tobi and me before the dinner started.  You can see the small, individual challahs at each place (this is the traditional bread for a Shabbat dinner)  No wine yet!

But this meal was even more special because we had 4 guests join us.  Brendon, Lewis, Haffa, and Joseph are Americans who have come to Israel either to make Alliah (which is to become an Israeli citizen) or simply to join the Israeli Army (the IDF).  There is a program here for soldiers with no family near by.  They are called Lone Soldiers, and they are available to be invited to Shabbat Dinner when they are on leave.  We were very lucky to have these 4 amazing people join us.  Brendon is originally from New Jersey.  Lewis is from Alabama.  Joseph is from Maryland.  Haffa is from Pennsylvania.  We learned about their background, their reasons for joining the IDF, what they do in the IDF, what they would like to do after leaving the IDF and so much more.  It was like having a guest at your own dinner table.  Here is a photo of some of our group with Lewis.

Back again later!

Yad Vashem and the Shuk

Dateline September 27, Friday

Today was a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences with a visit to Yad Vashem and then to the marketplace, the shuk.

Our morning began with an incredible lecture by Dr. Rachel Korazim, a leading Holocaust educator and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.  She helped us see one level of the complex feelings Israelis have about the Holocaust and understand the focus at the ‘new’ Yad Vashem, the Jewish National Memorial and Museum about the Holocaust.

Dr. Korazim is an excellent educator; few teachers could hold our attention for over an hour of lecture at 8:30 in the morning.  But her lecture was made up of stories, and that was a very effective way to teach us.  She explained about the range of Israeli feelings about the Holocaust– no one can answer the “why did this happen to us”, but many try, and this creates a spectrum of perspectives all coming from the  ‘we are guilty of something’ type of mentality.  One perspective was that the Holocaust was a punishment from G-d because the Jews had broken sacred rules by becoming too assimilated with their surroundings.  The other extreme suggests that the Jews were not Zionist enough;  that we didn’t fight hard enough for our own Jewish state early enough.  Of course there are many perspectives in between these two extremes on Zionism.  But both are based in the perspective of survivor guilt, or ‘what did WE do to get ourselves into this?’  The first Yad Vashem  memorial was built when this was the prevailing feeling, over 30 years ago.   But times changed and so did the perspective about the Holocaust.   A new Yad Vashem opened in 2005 coming from a different perspective–one that is filled with testimony from survivors.

After our lecture, we headed off to Yad Vashem.  The entire memorial was striking.  One area of particular note was the Garden of the Righteous,  a garden commemorating non-Jews who rescued Jews during the Holocaust (given the “Righteous Among the Nations” honor).   The trees in this garden were each planted by one of the Righteous.  This photo shows our group in front of two trees planted together by Osker and Emilie Schindler.

What an intense experience.  Words are difficult to find to describe the feelings I had at this  museum.   The exhibits took us from the time of life in Eastern Europe before the 1930s up to the liberation of the ‘camps.’  I am not going to describe all the components of the memorial and museum, in part because it doesn’t do justice to what we experienced.   And personally, I need some time to process my reactions and feelings from this visit.  The history of the Holocaust is not new to me.  My family tree lost branches in the Holocaust.  Seeing this memorial and the museum in Jerusalem had a very deep impact.  There are so many levels of hate, persecution, bigotry, fear, omnipotence, hope and loss that come out of this period of our world’s history.  Since we are in Israel supporting the Light project with Ballet Austin, visiting Yad Vashem was one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever had.

We must never forget and we must do all we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and that is one of the messages of Ballet Austin’s Light/ The Holocaust and Humanity Project.

The Shuk

But as the Ballet Austin project reminded us, there is light and we must look forward.  Although the morning was very emotional,  Dani reminded us that life must go on.  And as a sign that we were moving forward, on our way to the next event, we drove by the Gerard Behar Center, the theater where the Light project will be performed in Jerusalem this coming Monday.  Outside the theater was the banner of the Light project.  Here is our group in front of the banner.

Our group worked through some of the immediate aftermath of the visit to Yad Vashem by immersing ourselves in the local people and their marketplace.  Tonight was Shabbat, so stalls in the marketplace shut down early today.  Everyone in Jerusalem, or so it seemed, were in the marketplace buying : fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, pasta, nuts, coffee,desserts, lunch, plates, table clothes, and more.  The shuk was an open-air market over several blocks.  Organized chaos is probably the only way to describe it on a Friday afternoon.

Here is a short video clip of Becky Beaver sharing her thoughts on the visit to Yad Vashem and the rest of our day.

Back again later!

Reuters Covers the Light Project Tour

Dateline: September 26

We got some very exciting news today.  Reuters’s website has a short video about the Light Holocaust and Humanity project. View it here.

Masada and the Dead Sea

Dateline: September 26, Thursday

Today’s itinerary took us to two popular sites in Israel:  Masada and the Dead Sea.

Masada

First, we have to acknowledge the group who walked up the snake trail to reach the summit.  The Snake Path ascends about 400 feet from the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea, up to the peak.  The path is at times narrow and rocky and at other times, made up of stone steps.  Some members of our group, Albert, Becky, Bobby, Cathy (celebrating her birthday today),  Cookie, David, Jamie, Karen, Liz, and Tobi, walked the snake path.  The rest of the group took the gondolas to the peak.  Kudos to the team for not only making it to the top (and Jamie and Liz did it in less than 35 minutes, a serious record), but for doing it as a team.  Here is a photo of the group about 1/3 of the way up.  You can see them right in the middle of the trail.  This photo was taken from the gondola station at the peak.

Masada is the site of two important historical periods for Israel.  Earliest is the time of King Herod, known as the “Great King Herod” for all the building and good works he did around Israel, and also known by several other, not so flattering names for other reasons.  He’s credited with building the Second Temple in Jerusalem , the port at Ceasarea (we visited Ceasarea earlier in this trip), and the fortress Masada.  Many of the ruins we saw were from King Herod’s ‘remodel’ of Masada.  He strengthened the fortress and built many of the rooms we see in the ruins today, including the Northern Palace and the Western Palace.

Masada is also important as a heroic story of a small group of Jews standing up for what they believe against the Romans.  About 100 years after King Herod and after the destruction of the Second Temple, a group of Jewish Zealots fled Jerusalem to Masada.  They lived in this fortress, and built additional rooms. One of the rooms was the Synagogue.  This was a room for studying, not for praying in those days.  You can see our group learning from Dani, our sababa tour guide, in this photo.   In the synagogue was a room that was used to store scrolls.  Right now, this room is being used to create a new Torah.  A wealthy congregations has commissioned a new Torah and the scribe is working out of the room in the synagogue.  Since today is a Jewish Holiday (Simcha Torah), the scribe was not there.

Even though this story ended tragically, they kept to their beliefs and their sense of what is right, and when it was clear that they were going to lose the battle and be taken as slaves, they exercised their right to freedom (and the ability to make their own decisions) when they ended their lives at Masada.  Our tour today included a lot of history about this period of Jewish and Roman history.  At one point, Dani got into costume to share the story about the night before the end of Masada.

Betty shared her thoughts on the trip to Masada.

Here is a photo of most of our group on top of Masada.

The Dead Sea

After Masada, we headed to the Dead Sea for lunch and to relax and float in the sea.  We based this trip at the Crowne Plaza Dead Sea Hotel, a resort hotel right on the beach of the Dead Sea. We learned that the Dead Sea not only plays an important role in commerce in Israel (the minerals from the Dead Sea are harvested to create products that are sole all over the world), but it’s a big recreation place.   The Dead Sea is actually not dead, but it gets its name from the high concentration of salt and other minerals.  In fact we were told that everyone floats in this sea.  We decided to find out.

We brought our bathing suits and went swimming in the Dead Sea.  It was true, the salt content was so high that everyone just floated.  Israeli residents come to the Dead Sea as a family for vacation, and since this week had some holidays, the hotel we visited for the afternoon was very busy.  Of interesting note is that the actual Dead Sea is just a bit north of where we were.  It is a big lake that is actually losing water faster than it can fill up, so consequently the lake level is variable and not a good place for recreation and hotels.  In addition, the Dead Sea is right on the border between Jordan and Israel.  SInce both countries us the minerals from this sea, both countries pump the water into their own reservoirs, where they harvest the minerals from this sea.  The landscape was beautiful and the water very salty.

Back again later!

Simchat Torah Eve

Dateline: September 25, Wednesday Night

Tonight is the beginning of another Jewish Holiday, Simchat Torah.  This holiday commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people.  It’s a joyous holiday filled with dancing and celebrating, especially at the Western Wall.  So our group decided we wanted to see it.

After a very nice dinner at our hotel, consisting of several courses and lots of wine, we headed out to walk from our hotel to the Western Wall.  Our trek included walking on the sidewalks of Jerusalem, past a windmill, down a number of flights of stairs, across a bridge over the Valley of Hinnom, up a twisty path, into the gates (we chose the Zion Gates), and then through the small streets and alleyways of Old Jerusalem, until we emerged at the courtyard of the Western Wall.

There we found a very happy group celebrating Simchat Torah.  Right in front of the Western Wall the mall is divided into the men’s side and the women’s side.  The men were singing and dancing around with the Torah, and another group of men were praying at the wall.  There were about 50 men celebrating and the men from our delegation joined them.  The women’s side was a bit quieter.  There were several dozen women on the women’s side, but most were just praying at the Wall.  This site is a very holy site, and tonight was a holiday, so photos near the Wall were not possible.  We head back there on Saturday, so check back after then for photos of the Wall.

The Whitehursts Departing Tomorrow

Two of our delegation head home tomorrow.  They had arrived a few days early, and are leaving in the morning.  Stephanie and Bill, from the Ballet Austin board, shared some summary thoughts with me.

We will miss them.  Our delegation has gotten very close over the past week.  The Ballet Austin and Jewish Federation members have shared thoughts on many of the things we’ve seen together, and our discussions have covered a wide range of subjects, sometimes crossing over into normally tabu areas like differences in religious beliefs, and political differences.  But the respect and compassion everyone has showed for each others ideas has really blossomed into great learning opportunities and hopefully some lasting friendships.  Safe travels Bill and Stephanie.  See you in Austin!

Back again later!

Christian Holy Sites and Entering Jerusalem

Dateline: September 25, Wednesday

We left the Western Galilee area today and headed over to the Sea of Galilee.  The ride alone was very picturesque.  We saw many different ecosystems, and its really striking how the terrain changes so quickly, especially considering how small this country is.  We headed to Jerusalem, but on the way, we drove by several Christian Holy Sites, the Sea of Galilee,  along the Jordan Valley, and through the West Bank (the Israeli roads) to Jerusalem.

Christian Sites

Our first stop was The Mount of Beatitudes, which is a beautiful, peaceful location overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  It’s the traditional site of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount’.  We roamed the grounds and had a chance to see the relatively new church on the site, which has incredible mosaic work on the floor.  The grounds have some very nice gardens and is home to an Italian convent.

Next we headed to the Tabgha, the traditional site of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes.  There is a modern church built on the remains of a Fourth Century church.  Dani read to us from the New Testament the story about the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes and gave us a great briefing to prepare us for the inside of the church.  Striking here was the olive tree and fish pond in the courtyard, as well as the mosaic of fish and bread on the church floor.

Our third stop was at Capernaum, the site of St. Peter’s home, and also the site of the remains of an ancient synagogue, supposedly where Jesus taught his disciples.   The synagogue was clearly a Jewish Synagogue, but the interesting thing here is that the front of the synagogue, did not face Jerusalem, but instead faced north.

We continued our journey along the shores of the Sea of Galilee to a restaurant for lunch (the restaurant was at a local college, and there was an art gallery there, too.  On display right now were incredible quilts. I snapped a few photos of them).  David and Karen Brenner let me video them at the Sea of Galilee.

The Route to Jerusalem

After lunch was an hour plus ride along the Jordan Valley, through the West Bank, to Jerusalem.  Dani, our tour guide, provided numerous details and history as we made our way to Jerusalem.  One interesting fact was that as we crossed the West Bank, we learned that he, as an Israeli, is not supported by his government if he goes to cities or villages in the West Bank.  That means that areas like Bethlehem and Jericho are off limits at the moment.  We, as American citizens can go (and we can find other tour guides who can take us), but as an Israeli, he cannot go.

Also of interest were the Bedouins we saw living in the desert along the way.  Bedouins are nomadic people living in small, portable homes in the desert.  They have a unique culture, in that they do not have a permanent address.  To some extent they are invisible people since they don’t have a drivers license, don’t purchase insurance, don’t register for health care, etc.  They live in tents (or in the case of the people we saw along the road, in temporary shelters).  Dani let us know that he lived with the Bedouins for about 6 months when he first got here, so he had some interesting stories to tell us.

The Shehecheyanu

From the desert, we headed through the tunnel into Jerusalem…from the dry, sandy terrain into the lush, green, hilly city of 800,000 people.  We saw the barrier built around Jerusalem and some of the housing and  settlements outside and inside the city.  We drove through the Arab neighborhood on the Mount of Olives to the overlook of the city.  A local Arab boy was there to sell us calendars and take our photo (you can see his shadow in our picture).

There, Tobi and Betty both got a ride on a camel from some local entrepreneurs.  And Dani brought a bottle of grape juice for our group to share as we recited the Jewish prayer for special occasions, the  shehecheyanu.  I was able to capture that moment in this noisy (from the wind) video.

Back again later!

An Evening with Raya and Shmuel

Dateline: September 24, Tuesday evening

We were invited to the home of Raya Strauss and her husband Shmuel Ben-Dror for a final Partnership dinner at their home in Nahariya.   We were once again treated to a feast (we seem to be eating a lot on this trip) of meats, salads and fruits.  A 3-piece ensamble sang American and Israeli songs for us, and some of the Partnership leaders gave short speeches.

A highlight of the evening was the inclusion of the dancers from Ballet Austin (along with all the other Partnership delegations here for the International premier of the Light project.  We had dinner with 5 of the dancers at our table.  One of the dancers, Ian Bethany, shared his thoughts on what they did on their day off, since their next performance isn’t for a couple of days and they move from Acco to Tel Aviv (apologies, Ian, for the quality of this video…but I loved how you shared your thoughts here) .

Tomorrow we also leave the Western Galilee region and head to Jerusalem.

Back again later!

Kibbutz Hanita, Western Galilee Hospital, and the Youth Futures

Dateline: September 24, Tuesday

What an inspiring day today was.  We started our day at Kibbutz Hanita, the kibbutz right next to the Lebanese border.  Our tour guide, Gigi, was a 3^rd generation Kibbutz Hanita resident.  A cousin was one of the founders, with Moshe Diane.  The kibbutz was built in 1938 under interesting circumstances.  It was one of the ‘overnight towns,’ literally built over one night, relying on an older law that allowed any building to remain standing if it has a roof on it.  Settlers of this Kibbutz built structures with roofs within a few hours of arriving.  Unfortunately, the Arab neighbors were not happy with the then-new Jewish structure and snipers killed some of the pioneers that first night of existence.

This motivated Gigi’s grandfather to move to the Kibbutz to continue the work of his cousin, and today Kibbutz Hanita has over 600 residents.  It’s literally right next to the Lebanese border, as seen in this photo (the first wired barrier is the edge of theKibbutz, and the road is the border.  The posts on the other side of the road indicate where Lebanon begins).  The Kibbutz was one of the Tower and Stockade kibbutz set up to lay claim to the perimeter of Israel.  Gigi is one of the younger generation residents of the Kibbutz.  He had gone away to study but returned to his home kibbutz to raise his family, and to teach.

As an aside, our incoming JCAA President, Susan Broockman, let us know that her grandfather was also one of the founders of Kibbutz Hanita, giving us a special Austin connection.

WESTERN GALILEE HOSPITAL

Following the visit to Kibbutz Hanita, we attended the dedication of a new facility at the Western Galilee Hospital,the largest hospital in the region.  Dedicated was the new emergency room, made possible in a big part by the Western Galilee Partnership.  We were treated to a tour of the hospital, including their underground bunkers for patients and neighbors during times of attack.  The dedication was impressive and included several speeches from local leaders, including Raya Strauss, a local Partnership supporter and leader, and our host for dinner later in the evening.

We were shown a ‘lucky bomb’ that landed on one part of the hospital but ‘lucky’ because no one was hurt.  Here is a photo of the shrapnel (in the Plexiglas case).

Of particular note was the series of underground emergency rooms, ready on a moment’s notice to house the patients during an attack.  In 2006, these rooms were used when the Western Galilee area was under attack during the Israel-Lebanon conflict.  We were shown a short video of the preparedness of this hospital for the attack, and the efforts made since then to enhance and extend their readiness.  Here’s a short video of Gail Cannon, one of our delegates, sharing her thoughts on the hospital.

This hospital had some beautiful artwork.  The

stained glass in the entry way was  stunning.  And the painting of “The Partnership” hanging in the main hallway, was another example of the Jewish Agency Partnership’s influence in the region.  Painted by a member of the Partnership in the United States, it hangs in the Western Galilee Hospital as a gift from the US Federations who contributed to building bridges between the countries.

Finally, the visit to the hospital sparked an interesting discussion about health care in Israel.  There is healthcare for everyone.  It’s centralized.  We were told that if you need to see a doctor, you call a phone number and set up a same day appointment , if necessary, with the doctor in your region.  Since medical records are electronic and the administration of all healthcare is centralized, the doctors have access to your medical history very easily.  The socialized medicine approach is successful here.

Lunch was a vegetarian feast at Portebello, on a Moshav Ben-Ami (Kibbutz-like cooperative agricultural community) near the hospital.  It was a small restaurant, but we were served more salads and pizza and lasagne than we could eat. Lonnie Karotkin share her thoughts on the meal:

YOUTH FUTURES

Probably the most impactful event on our schedule today was the visit with Youth Futures, a program to help youth in the region get on course.  Youth Futures is a mentoring program for 13-16 year olds.  We heard from a panel of mentors and administrators.  Then 5 of their children joined us to sing a song with them and engage in dialogue with them.  The group consisted of both Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis.  Here was clear evidence how powerful it can be when children get together and help each other out.  There was no Arab/Israeli issue between these kids.  We were very impressed with this program and can see how it is one of the steps towards peace in the region—if the Arab and Jewish children can learn to get along, then hopefully that translates into a lasting relationship when they are older, and ultimately, peace in the region.  But this program was about more- the mentors built relationships with disadvantaged youths and just listened to them.  One of the mentors shared that “all these kids want is to be heard and to have an adult really take them seriously and listen.

Back again later!

Dinner with the Western Galilee Partnership

Dateline: September 23, Monday evening

Tonight’s blog will be a very short one, only because our schedule has been so full and we are all very tired (but it’s a good tired!). We spent the evening at a wonderful local restaurant with members of the Western Galilee Partnership (from Dayton, Lewisville, Des Moines, Omaha, and more), part of the Jewish Agency for Israel. We had some amazing food (and more hummus). We also celebrated Tobi’s special birthday (here’s a photo of Tobi watching the choir sing happy birthday to her).

We were treated to a wonderful concert of a local singing group. Here’s a short video of one of their songs:

Here’s a short video of Beverly and Kathy, two of the Ballet Austin supporters who are part of our delegation, sharing their experience from tonight:

This dinner included a little taste from home. Bill and Stephanie Whitehurst, two members of our Ballet Austin delegation, are holding our bottles of Pepsi and Pepsi Max (diet Pepsi) (and we really needed the caffeine after such along day!).

Back again later!

Ghetto Fighters and the Rosh Hanikra

Dateline: September 23, Monday

Today we spent the whole morning at the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum, the  Western Galilee Holocaust museum with the dancers and crew from the Ballet Austin.  We started in the display of life in Warsaw Ghetto prior to the Holocaust, and learned about how Jews were herded into the ghetto going from about 40,000 people to more than 10x times that amount.  We then saw the exhibit about the concentration camps, which had a very detailed model of what a concentration camp looked like, and we heard stories about how people existed there.  The archives of the museum were next with high-tech access to many of the items in the museum’s collection.  Seeing a real uniform of a Nazi officer and striped clothes worn by Jews who were taken to the camps made the experience very tangible.  It was as if people were standing in front of us.

Next we visited the children’s museum about the Holocaust.  This museum was built to teach children about the Holocaust and what it was like for children during the time.

After viewing the exhibits we connected with Ballet Austin dancers and crew who were also visiting.  The dancers were given an opportunity to do a live freeform performance and they chose to fill in the train station exhibit (an exhibit of suitcases sitting along the platform but absent any people).  They took on roles of the children who might have been sitting there.  One dancer mimicked a violin player.  Another sat next to a suitcase with a blanket and doll.  Two others sat like brother and sister wondering what was happening.  Their interpretation of the feelings the museum brought out were right on target.  Ballet Austin and our delegation then had a short lecture by the Executive Director of the museum.  Here is a short video of Janet Conley, a member of our delegation, sharing her impressions of the exhibit.

Right before leaving the museum we had a lovely lunch that included our entire delegation and the dancers.  We got a chance to meet and get to know the dancers in person, first hand, and hear about their experience and their thoughts on their performance the night before.

The Grottos of Rosh Hanikra

After lunch we headed to Rosh Hanikra, the grottos near the Lebanese border.  After some underground earthquakes created holes in the limestone and flint bedrock, the sea’s splashing waves created a series of grottos.  We got to talk through the caves and see firsthand this incredible natural wonder.  Here’s a few photos of our group at the grotto.

Back again later!

Light Project International Premier

Dateline: September 22, Sunday night

Our raison d’etre was this evening: the International Premier of the Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project at the Akko Auditorium.

Our evening started with a reception on the roof of the new hostel in old Acco, inside the walled city.   From this vantage point, we could see most of the walled city, and many of the stages set up around the city for the festival.  There was nice background music, but breathtaking views of the area.    There were probably 150-200 people at this reception, including Ambassadors from countries around the world, members of the Partnership from Omaha, Nebraska; Louisville, Kentucky;  Dayton, Ohio;  Des Moines, and more.    Dinner was served in the dining room of the hostel then we headed to the Akko Auditorium for the performance a few blocks away.

The Light International Premier filled the auditorium and the energy and excitement were large.  Our Austin delegation took up most of the entire 8^th row, so we had a great vantage point for the performance.   There were welcome addresses by Albert Ben-Shloosh, the Director of the Acco Festival; Raya Strauss, one of the leaders in the region and Steve Adler, a Ballet Austin Board member and a leader in Austin responsible for the arrival of the Light project at Acco.

Steve shared some background on the Light project and the importance of communities engaging in dialogue around hate, prejudice and bigotry.  He also described the importance of both what is seen in the ballet, and what is not seen in the ballet. Artistic director Stephen Mills wrote a story based on the experience of Holocaust survivor and Houston, Texas resident Naomi Warren.   Albert presented Steve with the Guest of Honor Acco Festival trophy, given to one act at each Festival that represents a center point of the festival.  It was quite an honor for the Light project.  Steve gave the trophy to Cookie Ruiz, and here’s a photo of her with it.

The lights dimmed and the performance began.  Flawlessly done, the dancers danced the 5 acts of the ballet.  As expected, it was powerful and moving.  Words don’t describe the feeling this ballet gives the audience.   The big question prior to the performance was how it would be received by an Israeli audience.  The answer:  they loved it.  In a country that deals with the issues of the Holocaust regularly, the combination of precisely executed dance elements by accomplished and professional dancers like those in the Austin Ballet and the subject material built into the story of the Light project was extremely well received by the Israeli audience.  Even our tour guide, Dani, commented on how wonderful the performance was and how deep and thought provoking it was for him.   But the confirming sign of success was the clapping at the end of the show.  It started out as any audience, with wild applause, but very quickly the clapping morphed into a rhythmic, synchronized clapping that went on for several minutes.   Our Austin delegation was somewhat surprised, not knowing what the synchronized clapping meant, but we were then told that it was a high form of praise and acceptance in Israel, and common after a successful performance.

After the show, Stephen Mills came onstage to answer questions from the audience.  He was asked about the symbolism of some of the elements in the ballet, and he described what his vision was.  He was asked about the story and he shared some of his experience with Naomi Warren.  He also was asked about the ending, and he let the audience know that Naomi’s wishes were for a positive, survivor ending, since she was a survivor.

All in all, a fantastic (shabab) evening none of us are likely to forget.

Back again later!

Old Acco

Dateline: September 22, Sunday

Our day started early in Ma’alot with an incredible spread of food for breakfast.  We are staying in a resort in Ma’alot a short 45 min drive from Acco.  It’s a very large hotel for this region and since our delegation is large, we needed a place that could accommodate all of us (and most of the other hotels in the area are smaller bed and breakfast places).  So the Hacienda Forestview is our home in the Western Galilee.  It’s not the newest hotel and after staying in the David Intercontinental in Tel Aviv, this hotel seems a bit rustic.  But the air conditioning works really well, the beds are comfortable,  and the food is good.  The rest is just details. Our adventure today took us to the walled city of old Acco (or Akko or Acre, depending on the time period and people).  We were introduced to the city with to a brief talk about the partnership between Austin and a handful of other cities in the US, and the Western Galilee region of Israel, which included Acco.  Some of the things we learned:

• The current Partnership is actually the third wave of programs for Jews around the world to support Israel.  From 1948-1970s, the support was primarily given to the State of Israel, which was used to set up the country itself.
• Around the 1970s, Project Renewal took hold and donors wanted more say in what the money was spent on, such as schools, health care, research, etc.  Joint steering committees were formed to accommodate this new way of giving.
• About 1994 a third stage of relationship was created.  Project Renewal was declared finished and what is now the Partnership was created.  Yitzhak Rabin made an agreement with the Jewish Agency to set up a different relationship model, since it was a new generation of donors with new interests and priorities.  There are 45 partnerships with communities all over the world.  The key to their success is the unique steering committee for each partnership, which sets up their own decision processes.  There are over 15,000 volunteers involved with Partnerships, including the Israeli volunteers and the volunteers in the partner communities.

Next we headed to the Ethnographic Museum located inside the former army barracks in the wall around the city.  It was really interesting to see how the areas inside the walls had been reclaimed for a museum.  Acco actually has 3 walls around it, with a dry mote in between each of them for protection.  We learned that the dry mote was best because you could see your enemy coming—they were an easy target when in the mote. The Ethnographic Museum is home to historic displays of life in Israel.  Donated by two primary families, there are rooms and rooms of, well, rooms.  One display is a sitting area made entirely of inlaid tiles in wood furniture.  It’s really beautiful.  Another display is a replica of a goldsmith’s stall in an old marketplace, with all the tools the craftsman would use to practice his craft.  Still another was full of toys and games a child would play with.  This Museum was also in the process of setting up an exhibit of glass art for the Acco Festival, so we were treated to some interesting glass sculptures. We met up with Acco Festival General Director and Producer-in-Chief Albert Ben-Shloosh for a tour of the rooms uncovered by excavation around the walled city.  Albert was not only our host to visit these rooms, but he’s the leader and producer of the Acco Festival, and therefore the person who brought Ballet Austin’s Light Holocaust and Humanity Project to Acco.  Albert took us inside the old castle, the Hospitaller Fortress, from about 1000 years ago, when the Crusaders settled in Acco.   Many rooms have been excavated and we were treated to a tour (with commentary and history provided by our tour guide, Dani).  We also visited the Knight Hall and the Templar Tunnel. We concluded our morning with lunch in the Akko shuk (marketplace).   Our group of 7 headed deep into the marketplace and found a restaurant with amazing falafel, hummus, and kabobs.   Of course we had ordered too much food, but how else can you taste everything? Back again later!

Ethnix and Rami Kleinstein

Dateline: September 21pm: Opening of the Akko Festival

This evening we went to the opening of the Akko Festival. The dancers and production team of Ballet Austin and our delegation were given seats of honor for the opening. General Director and Producer-in-Chief Albert Ben-Shloosh gave a welcome address to the audience, and included a special welcome (in English) to our group, much to our great delight.

The opening included a series of dancers with gigantic wind socks dancing through the audience in the outdoor venue. We were then treated to a concert by Israeli pop-rock group Ethnix. During their concert, Rami Kleinstein. Wonderful!

Back again later!

Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Casearea and Mount Carmel in Haifa

Dateline: September 21:

Our first day of touring took us to several historic and modern sites.  We first stopped in the old town of Jaffa, an ancient walled city that today is an artist colony.  Walking along the stone streets, Dani, our tour guide, painted a vision of what the town was like when it was created.  Of note were the large fish statue (presumable created as a reminder of the story of Jonah).

We also saw the home of artist and art patroness Ilana Goor, the floating tree (and the story of the Jaffa orchards),

The Egyptian arch (and the reminder of the civilizations that conquered Jaffa over the centuries and built their cities on top of one another), St. Peter’s Church (the church dedicated to St. Peter, one of the 12 Apostles, and reportedly the home to Napoleon Bonaparte when he was advancing on Egypt and Syria in the late 1790s),

and the port (with the Jaffa Rocks, where Perseus rescued Andromeda by killing the sea monster.) .

While we were in Jaffa, we happened upon an Ethiopian wedding, taking place in the old city on top of the hill.

Tel Aviv

In the early 1920s a wave of Arab attacks on Jaffa caused many to leave and move to what became Tel Aviv.  Our next visit was to the first street in Tel Aviv, known today as Rothschild Boulevard.  We walked up the boulevard of this beautiful neighborhood, learning about the eclectic architecture followed by the Bauhaus architecture, and the site of the Hertzl house, now known as the Independence Hall.  We saw first hand the area that more recently was the site of the tent city, a protest in 2011 against the high rents in Tel Aviv.

Caesarea and Haifa

Then it was on to Caesarea, a resort area by the sea, for lunch.   Caesarea is about half way between Tel Aviv and Haifa, and is both historic (built by Herod the Great about 25 BCE as an important port in the area) a popular place for the wealthy.  Our group had lunch on our own in the area.

After Casearea, we headed to the port of Haifa, and saw the Ba’hai Gardens on Mount Carmel.  This is the modern home of the Ba’hai faith.  The gardens scale up the side of the mountain.  From the top of Mount Carmel, we could see most of Haifa, across the Haifa bay to Akko, and all the way to the Jordanian boarder.  There was a rain cloud over the area, and we could see it move from over the bay, to over the land.  And then we were treated to a rainbow.  Here is a short video clip of Cookie Ruiz from Ballet Austin and Jay Rubin from the Jewish Federation of Austin talking about our day. 

Back again later!

Israeli Society

Our morning began with an incredible dialogue with scholar Paul Liptz of Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew Union College.  Professor Liptz shared with us his research and thoughts on the current socio-economic conditions in Israel.  We heard about the economic inequalities and ethnic tensions facing Israeli society. 

Some of the points made:

• The top of the socio-economic ladder is held by 15 families, most of whom have been here 2 or 3 generations and they are extremely wealthy.  Next is the “Crème de la Crème”, the top 7% of the society, many of whom are in their 30s and 40s.  Most have done their Army service and through that service they made lifelong friendships that form the foundation of their professional and personal lives today.  Most are secular and consider themselves the “New Zionists”.  Many are entrepreneurs and that’s how they have become so successful.
• The middle class makes up about 50% of the population.  These Israeli’s have found more financial success than their parents and they continue to strive to be more upwardly mobile.  They are a mixed group, both in their origin and their ethnic background.  This new middle class has moved from the socialists attitudes of the early years of Israel’s existence where the collective is the focus, to capitalist attitudes, where individual success is more of a focus.  And increasing numbers of Israeli Palestinians are in this group.
• About 30% of the population is below the poverty line.  There is a high percentage of elderly Russian-speaking immigrants, ultra-orthodox Jews, Ethiopians (perhaps the newest immigrant group to come to Israel), and Israeli Palestinians in this group.

We also had a preview of the society of the areas we are visiting on this trip.  Of particular note is Akko, where we were headed this evening for the Festival, which is an area of mixed ethnic groups.  In some ways it’s a great example of Israelis and Israeli Palestinians living together.  We are looking forward to seeing it.

Back again later!

Our Welcome Dinner

Dateline: September 20 pm

It’s officially started!  Tonight was our first meal together as a delegation from the JFA/BalletAustin in Israel.   Our delegation is made up of leaders from the Jewish Federation of Austin, Ballet Austin, and a few additional guests who wanted to join us.  At dinner tonight there were about 22 of us, a few additional participants will join later.

First Jay Rubin, CEO of the Jewish Community Association of Austin addressed the group, sharing the meaning of Shabbat and saying the prayer over the wine and the bread.  We all start working on an incredible spread of tapas—salmon cerviche, beef carpaccio, eggplant, green salad, bell peppers, and of course challah and wine.  At first we thought this was our dinner for tonight, since it was so plentiful.  But then the servers brought out a next course of salmon, picturesquely served on slices of green cucumber with a lemon wedge.  It was delicious.  Again, we think we are done, but the servers then brought out another course, this time it was a petite steak, mash potatoes and broccoli.  We are all very full, but we don’t want to be rude so we nibble on this 3rd course.  More wine for everyone, of course.  Then, the dessert plate…a selection of small tarts, cookies, and chocolate-covered orange rind.

Jay introduced Dani, our tour guide, who gave us an overview of the plans for the tour, specifically for tomorrow, when we have a very full day of sightseeing around Tel Aviv, then heading up north to Akko, and stopping along the way to take in Jaffa, Haifa and Ma’alot.  We will end up at the opening of the Akko Arts Festival.  Sounds like a great day.

After Dani, Cookie Ruiz, the Executive Director of Ballet Austin was asked to say a few words.  She shared the incredible story of the Light/the Holocaust and Humanity Project.  Steven Mills spent 2 years studying the Holocaust, the concentration camps, and the survivors as part of his research to create the Light project.  The focus of the work is the story of Naomi Warren, a survivor of the concentration camps during WWII.  But the work represents so much more.  It’s about bigotry and hate.  It’s as much about what we see in the work a what is absent from the work.   The dancers also have spent a significant time studying the Holocaust and the survivors.  And the work is brought to communities who are willing to examine difficult topics such as bigotry and hate as a community.  We heard from Cookie how in some cities, dancers addressed the audience after the Ballet to discuss the meaning of the work to them, personally.  And we learned that a documentary produced by KLRU about the preparation for this work, Producing Light, won an Emmy in 2012.  See more about this at the Ballet Austin site here.  Those of us who have not yet seen this work are even more pumped up to see it now that we have heard Cookie speak so passionately.  We can hardly wait.

Back again later!

Carmel Market

Dateline: September 20

It’s Friday in Tel Aviv and the other participants in the delegation of Jewish Federation of Austin and Ballet Austin have started to arrive.  Two of my friends, Janet and Gayle were on the early flight from Newark so we met up at our hotel, the David Intercontinental, and then headed out to visit the marketplace.  We know that Shabbot starts tonight so many of the stores and shops will close about 4pm, and it’s 1pm already, so we feel a need to hurry to see the marketplace.

We headed to the Carmel Market, a bustling marketplace full of vendors and shoppers.  It was only a few blocks away, but these are not straight streets.  We wandered around a bit, feeling like we were traveling in circles.  But we finally found the marketplace.   Gayle commented that it seemed similar to other marketplaces she had visited in other cities.  We grabbed a falafel on the way in for lunch and plunged into the crowd.  We had been warned that it would be crowded, and it was.  We took our time angling our way though one of the isles of the marketplace, and checking out the vendors.  The colors, sights and sounds made this adventure really fun.

You could probably buy just about anything here.  We saw all types of food, from fruit, and vegetables to olives, grains (like rice, oatmeal, flower and more), clothes, electronics, kitchen gadgets, iPhone cases, CDs/DVDs, and shoes.  We bought some pistachios from one of the vendors (he’s in the photo). It was 20 shekels (about $6) for 20 kg of nuts (in the shell).  They are roasted but not salted, just the way I like them.  Here are some photos of the stalls in the marketplace.

After we walked through the marketplace, we ended up at Magen David Square.  This was the intersection of 5 streets and full of shops and cafes.  We sat down at another Aroma Coffee Café (see yesterday’s blog about Aroma), just to rest and regroup.  We needed to look at a map to figure out which of these 5 streets was the one to take us back to the hotel.  We picked Nachalat Binjamin Street, which turned out to be another pedestrian mall but it was full of artists.  It was much calmer than the Carmel Market, and we browsed a bit on our way back to the hotel.  There were a lot of hand-made Judaicia here, and I was able to find a ring for my daughter.

But it’s very hot and humid today so the 3 of us are sweaty and tired from the heat.  Gayle and Janet were still adjusting to the time change so we headed back to the hotel, buying another bottle of water along our route.  We passed the same intersection that we had started on earlier on our way to the market so it turns out that we were not traveling in circles after all.

Back again later!

The Bike Path and the Boardwalk

Dateline: September 19 pm

Since today is a holiday, I’ve been warned that the stores, museums, and other sites to see around Tel Aviv will be closed.  So I’ve decided to stick close to the hotel today and walk along the walking/bike path to the boardwalk and the beach.  You can see in an earlier blogpost how close the beach is to the hotel.  About 1 mile north of the hotel is the Tel Aviv Port which I’m hoping will be a fun place to hang out.

Late morning, I headed out to see the beaches and visit the port.   The beaches along the way are well maintained and inviting.  There are all sorts of activities to do on the beach.  There is a beach volleyball game, and even a public work-out area.

The work out area is filled with brightly painted equipment similar to the strength-training machines  I recognize from my gym, but it’s much more sturdy and simple. There are machines for quads, calves, hamstrings, lats, chest, and more.  Perfect for the beach and for any park.

No Cybex here; but it was inviting and useful for strength training.  It would be great to see this kind of area in parks back home—it could replace a gym membership.  There was a sign that says “you must be at least 14 years old to use this” making it clear that this is not a playground for children.

But don’t worry, there were plenty of play grounds along the bike path.  Some were themed (I noticed a Peter Pan Neverland theme for one of them) and some were just a slide and jungle gym.  One play area had a couple of small zip lines, and kids were all lining up to sip across the park.   All the play areas were busy; today must be a day for families to hang out at the beach because there are tons of kids around.

The walking/bike path itself was a 3-lane highway.  Down the middle was a 2-lane bike path, and it, too, is busy.  On the side of the bike lanes was a walking lane but you took your life in your hands crossing the bike path to get to the hiker’s lane.  I was almost run over by a guy on a bike with his dog  running along side.  He couldn’t just stop quickly since his dog was jogging at the other end of the leash he was holding.  Unlike the biker, his dog was able to maneuver around obstacles like walkers and other bikes, but he when he tried to stop, he was pulled along by his dog.  Bikes and dogs like this were common.  In fact, dogs on leashes were everywhere…on the sand, splashing in the sea, sleeping under picnic tables, jogging alongside bikers and joggers, and just walking alongside owners out for a walk.

Also along the path was one beach which was walled off from the others and from the path.  It had this sign outside…this beach was for the more traditional and it was for men only for 3 days of the week and women only the other 3 days (Saturday being Shabbat, it’s closed).  Peeking through the door, I noticed both men and women today.  So I’m guessing that on a holiday, it must be coed.

I walked the mile to the port and the path turned into a boardwalk.  Restaurants, cafes, shops, street performers, and of course bikers and families everywhere.   I was almost run over again by a swarm of small children riding tiny tricycles all over the boardwalk.  It’s curvy and hilly so they were riding up to the peak, then flying down the hill, squealing with delight.  Parents were nearby, watching their kids and trying to keep accidents with pedestrians like me from happening.

There were a lot of restaurants and cafes here and they were all open.  Most have a large seating area outside so the people watching was great.   My daughter, who visited Israel last summer with her youth group, said I had to visit Aroma, the Israeli answer to Starbucks.  I found an enormous Aroma along the boardwalk.  I stopped for a bottle of water, but next time I’m getting an Ice Aroma (a frozen drink much like a frappacino).  It looked really refreshing.  There are Aroma Expresso Bars all over the country so I’m sure I’ll have another chance.

On my way back to the hotel, I walked a different route through Independence Park.  This park was renovated in 2010 as part of the celebration of Tel Aviv’s 100 year anniversary.   It’s quiet today, but very green.  There are a few statues here and a playground for kids and another work out area for adults.  This park is right above the bike path and the beach so the photo ops are everywhere.  I had someone passing by snap this shot of me (so at least you know I’m really here ;)).  Back to the hotel for a little R&R.  Tomorrow I hook up with the rest of our delegation and the real touring begins!

Back again later!

Sukkot in Israel

Dateline: September 19

Today is the first day of Sukkot, the Feast of the Tabernacle and the celebration of the harvest.   Sukkot is traditionally observed by eating (and if you want, sleeping) in a temporary shelter, called a sukkah, inviting guests to join you for a meal in your sukkah, and by waving a lulav (branches from a palm, willow and myrtle woven together to form a long, stick-like item) and etrog (a citron).  The lulav and etrog are symbols mentioned in the 23^rd chapter of Leviticus, where Sukkot is described.

In the Hilton, this morning, there was a public Sukkot service in the ballroom.  It was a traditional service, with men on one side of a divider and women on the other.  The men’s side was at least twice as large as the women’s side and there were several dozen men praying.  I know this not because I entered, but because the ballroom has windows all around it.  And there were several men and boys in the elevator with their lulav and etrog in hand.

The restaurant at the Hilton was relocated for the holiday (which lasts until Sept. 25).  It was now outside in a very large sukkah.  Here’s a photo of the restaurant. This sukkah was attached to the hotel (you got there by going down a hallway of the hotel and out the side door, which was the door of the temporary restaurant).   I was fascinated by this.  Sukkah back home were usually smaller structures or even tents…just large enough for a table for the family and maybe a few friends.  The Hilton sukkah could easily seat several hundred.

Along the boardwalk towards the Tel Aviv port, there were signs like this one which have an illustration of a sukkah and wishes for a happy holiday. There were several sukkot (the plural form of sukkah) built in and around the buildings.  Most were more like the sukkah from back home, they were smaller structures, maybe 10’x10’ and had one table in them for dining.  They were in the small yards of the buildings around the neighborhood, and in parking lots next to stores in the area.  There were even some sukkot built around the picnic tables at the beach.

As I walked down the boardwalk, I heard some singing coming from a really large sukkah right next to the beach.  This one held about 100 people, and there were chairs set up in a semi-circle for anyone to join.  The service was being led by both men and women, and there was no divider. It was clearly a less traditional service meant for anyone on the boardwalk who wanted to stop in.  Here is a photo of the entrance.  You can see the ocean in the background and the temporary nature of the structure they built.  This is one Sukkot I’ll always remember.

Back again later!

What it Feels Like to be in a Jewish City

Dateline: September 18, 2013 pm

As noted in an earlier blog, someone told me how Jewish it seemed in Tel Aviv.  The city is one of the only places where you can walk around knowing you are Jewish and finding so many others who are Jewish.  There is no prejudice against you because you are Jewish here.  So I wanted to explore how it feels to be in a Jewish city.   Would a non-Jew feel uncomfortable here?  Here’s my thoughts.

There is clearly a Jewish feeling here, since everything is written in Hebrew.  Unfortunately I don’t speak a word of Hebrew (guess that isn’t technically correct…I speak words like Shalom, and I can recite some key prayers).  But as a general, every-day language, I am completely lost.   The signs, menus, store prices, ads, etc are primarily only in Hebrew so not speaking Hebrew is definitely a disadvantage.  But that is no different than big cities in other countries where the language is foreign and the characters of the alphabet are unique, too.  In addition, tonight is Sukkot, so there are signs around with information on services, and stores are closing early.

There are other signs, too, that this is a Jewish place.  The hotel elevator buttons, for example, have a Shabbat mode.  On the Sabbath, when no work can be done, technically, you are not allowed to even ring for the elevator.  So this sign caught my attention.  I’ve not seen this on the elevators before.

Each room in the hotel has a mezuzah on the door post.  Again, it’s traditional for Jews to have a mezuzah on the door.  Most Jews in the US have one on their front door, and the more observant have them over their interior doors.  But I don’t recall seeing a hotel with a mezuzah on every door. 

Menus have either dairy or meat items, and there are clearly Kosher laws underlying many of the foods served in restaurants here.  I can understand why my friends who keep Kosher feel at home here.  There is no need to tell the server to leave the cheese off the hamburger.

But really, that is all I’ve observed so far (but I’ve not  been here a full 24 hours yet). The cafes and food stands I passed along my walk didn’t seem any more or less Jewish than food stands I’ve seen in other places.  While a number of the men wear kippahs, that, too, is not as rare as it used to be in other cities.  In New York City, Los Angeles and many high tech cities, one often sees men wearing a kippah.  People don’t look different here, nor, in general, do they dress different.  The streets are narrow and congested (which reminds me of many of the places we’ve visited in Italy), but that doesn’t remind me of anything Jewish.

So Tel Aviv, while clearly having elements that indicate a Jewish city, is not a city that non-Jews would feel unwelcome (wow, how is that for a triple negative).   Tel Aviv feels welcoming to all.  You don’t have to be Jewish to feel comfortable here.  I’ll be interested to hear what the others on the Illuminate Austin, Explore Israel trip feel.

The First Few Hours in Tel Aviv

Dateline: September 18, 2013

We arrived in Israel!  We were delayed about 20 minutes in Newark due to a change of equipment (before we boarded) but we made up time in the air and were just about on time.

I was met at the baggage claim by a representative of the tour group and she helped me get a SIM card for my iPad, and cash from an ATM.  She then introduce me to one the shuttle driver.  He collected my bags and took me to the Tel Aviv Hilton, which is right at the beach, about 30 min away.

Here are my first impressions from the airport and from the car ride on a sunny day in Tel Aviv:  Tel Aviv definitely looks and feels foreign.  Signs are mostly in Hebrew so I can’t read them.  Sometimes you can tell what the ad is for from the photo, but other times not so lucky.  So the city reminds me of Tokyo and places in China, where not only can I not read the signs, but the characters in the alphabet are so different, I can’t make anything out.  People look like they are headed someplace but not in a hurry.  The casualness of the people and the way they dress remind me of California and to some extent, Austin.  They stroll along the streets and lots of people are walking their dog(s).  The buildings are mostly gray, and while there are trees and greenery, they seem secondary to the city. They are close together and as we get closer to the beach they are light tan and other colors you find in sunny places like San Francisco and Los Angeles.   The intensity of the people, like those who pushed their way off the plane only to ‘wait in the next line’ remind me of New York, London and every other big city.   The weather is cool but not cold (70s-80s).  It’s California beach weather, so I’m reminded of Santa Cruiz.  The drivers here are terrible, just as I was warned…feels like NYC or Italy.  We almost hit or got hit a few times on this trip into town.

We arrive at the Tel Aviv Hilton.  Here’s a photo of the front door…a regular, non-discript building, but it’s overlooking the water!  

I didn’t feel very tired  so I went walking around.  Also, I left the iPad cord on the plane  (it had a plug on the plane so we could keep our devices charged).  So I’m on the hunt for a replacement since I borrowed this iPad Mini from my friend Bill and I won’t return it without the proper cords and connectors.

The concierge suggested I walk up Dizengoff Street, where there are shops, cafes and a few blocks south, there is a mall with the local equivalent of an Apple store, iDigital.  The Dizingoff Center Mall is about 1 mile away, so off I go.  Along the way I window shopped and checked out a few interesting boutiques, a pharmacy and a grocery store.  I didn’t buy anything, though.

The Dizingoff Center is  huge.  It  seems big in part because there are a lot of  stairways and levels.  I find the iDigital Store and 300 Shekels (about $85) later, I have a replacement cable, connector and a third cable, just in case).  The store looked a lot like an Apple store in the US.

Right outside, on the next floor up, there is a McDonalds. One of my favorite places to visit in foreign countries is their McDonalds.  Nothing shows the influence of US culture mixed with local culture like a foreign McDonalds, and this one doesn’t disappoint.  The menu has shakes, burgers, fries, chicken wraps and more, just like an American McDonalds.   It also has the long lines our home stores have.  But interestingly enough, their burgers are named after our cities…there is the “Texas”, “Broadway” “Miami” Las Vegas”, “Chicago”, and “New York” burger.  Unfortunately I don’t speak Hebrew so I can’t read what is on them, but here is a photo.

I stayed around and looked in some of the stores.  This doesn’t feel like a high-end mall…no big names that I recognize (Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom’s, etc) and I don’t recognize any international stores, either.  Most of the stores have boutique-like set ups.  There seem to be a large number of nail salon in this mall, too.

After walking around the mall for about an hour, I headed back to the hotel…all in all walking over 12,000 steps (according to my pedometer).  I’m getting tired and I want to rest for a bit in my room.

Just for completeness, here’s a short video of the view from the Hilton (from my room on the 12th floor):

Back again later!

Anticipating Israel then Flying There

Dateline: September 17, 2013

I’m in the Newark airport waiting for my connection to Tel Aviv.

My journey has begun.  I’ve flown from Austin to Newark to change planes for the flight to Tel Aviv. The Tel Aviv segment is totally booked, in part because this is the time of the year of the Jewish holidays (Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur have just happened, and Succot and Simcha Torah are while we are visiting) so there is a lot of back and forth travel between the US and Israel, according to the United Agent.   Our group will be in Jerusalem on Simcha Torah, the holiday honoring the delivery of the Torah (the 5 books of Moses) to the Jewish People, and friends have said it’s such a big celebration, we should try to get to the Western Wall on Eve-Simcha Torah.  We are going to build it into our plans.

The anticipation of seeing Israel for the first time is almost overwhelming.  I’ve been researching and talking with a number of people who have been there.  Everyone says it’s a ‘life changing experience’ to visit Israel.  The build up is huge.   I’m very much looking forward to getting there so it’s ‘real’ and not just the image that’s in my head.  I’m excited to see it.  But I’m also a little scared.  I’ll be traveling alone for a couple of days in a city I don’t know.  I’m expecting to find a lot of people who speak English so I can be comfortable getting around.  Someone said Tel Aviv was like New York, so I’m expecting a big city with lots of nooks and crannies around the city.  Several people said it’s safe to walk around so I’m going to explore some on my own.  Someone else said it was great to be in a country where being Jewish was the norm.  I can’t even imagine what that feels like.

There were some concerns a week or two ago that there was going to be a flair up with Syria (over chemical weapons) and if so, that could delay our trip.  But fortunately the diplomats have figured out something so the threat is sidelined for now.  The trip is definitely a go.

Back again…I’ve just boarded the flight to Tel Aviv (United flight 84 (a 10 hour flight from NYC to Tel Aviv).  There was an extra security check at the gate (for everyone) so there was a bit of a delay to get to the gate.  They checked each person with a metal detector, and searched each bag manually.  But that is behind me and I’m on the plane now.  Unfortunately, my upgrade using miles didn’t come through so I’m in coach.  Here’s a photo of the coach sections…only about 7-8 inches of legroom Fortunately, I’m short so that’s not the issue, but if the guest in front of me puts her seat back, I think I’m in trouble.  There are kids behind me so I had a nice little chat with them about not checking my seat.  And he agreed if I didn’t up the seat back very much.  We agreed.

My only regret is that I didn’t get upgraded to Business-First.  I had requested that upgrade back in March when I booked the flight.  The agent on the phone and I went over a number of scenarios, and settled on me purchasing a coach ticket and using my miles to upgrade.  That cost an additional $600 to use the miles to upgrade.  So I paid it.  Now the day of, there are no upgrades available (last week there were 4 but the wouldn’t be one to me until the last minute.  I was told that was so they could still sell a very pricy ticket up until the flight took off, and my ‘elite’ status was  not high enough to get that seat before time.  Basically, I was the ‘last’ on the upgrade list.  Needless to say, It did not come thorough, even though there was only one other guy above me on the upgrade list.

Ok, I’m going to watch a move, eat some snacks, sleep and generally do what you do on a long flight.  I’ll be back once I get to Tel Aviv.

Pre-Trip Excitement

It’s one week before our Jewish Federation/Ballet Austin trip to Israel and the excitement is mounting!  There is a lot of talk about what to bring, whether to rent a cell phone, what the weather is like, what we will be seeing/doing and more.  Emails, texts, and phone calls are flying back and forth as each of us figures out what to pack and how to wrap up loose ends at home. 

You can see exactly what our trip will cover by clicking on the link here.

I’m Keri Pearlson, a member of the Jewish Community Association of Austin (JCAA) Board of Directors.  I’ll be blogging throughout our trip.  My intention is to entice other members of our program to share their thoughts and experiences here, too.  I’ll be posting blogs regularly, and I’ll also be sending some videos to a YouTube channel.  Both the Ballet Austin and the JCAA websites will rebroadcast our blogs.

While our official program starts next Thursday, Sept. 19, with a flight to Tel Aviv, I’m actually leaving on Tuesday, Sept. 17.  I want a couple of days to adjust to the time zone switch and to see Tel Aviv.  Several others joining our program are also headed over to the area earlier next week.  We will be meeting next Friday, Sept. 20 for our first dinner together.

I’ll be back when I get to Tel Aviv.  Stay tuned…