February 16, 2008 - Jerusalem!

Last night was a tough night in terms of sleep. Daphne, who fell asleep around midnight local time, woke up at 2 am, and didn't fall back to sleep until 5:30 am - keeping me up the entire period. Shara was able to doze in and out of sleep, but nothing restful. By 6 am we were all sound asleep...ugh. I got up at about 10:30 am, and Shara followed soon after. We let Daphne sleep as long as possible before we got her up and ready to go.

We at lunch on the Kibbutz. Cornelia is the current manager of the chadar ochel - the community dining hall. So she joined us at our table while we noshed on fresh vegetables, and a variety of entrees with a regional flair. Then we hopped a cab into town to pick up our rental car which...wasn't ready. No big deal since we wouldn't have to worry about parking while we strolled through the Merkaz HaIr - the City Center. We started off at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, where I gave Shara and Daphne a tour of where I had spent my first year of study as a rabbinic student. We ran into Fahiz, the groundskeeper, who has been there for 35 years, who wants to meet up with us on Shabbat and give us a tour of the Old City. It's a wonderful offer and I hope we are able to do this.

From HUC-JIR we walked up towards Ben Yehuda Street. We peeked into some of the shops on Yoel Solomon Street, before passing through Zion Square and heading up Ben Yehuda Street. Before I go on I need to mention all of the new construction happening and/or completed since my last visit three years ago. There is a Waldorf-Astoria hotel being built in the within the ancient shell of another historic building. There is a new, and very upscale, mall (with an amazing parking structure underneath) just below the Old City Ramparts south of the Damascus Gate, and a huge tunnel going underneath that same area to help relieve some of the traffic flow on Jaffa Street. Some of the buildings on Yoel Solomon, including the one that housed the famous Underground nightclub, several "fast food" joints, and the Kent Stand on the corner within Zion Square, have been knocked down to make way for new construction.

We walked up and down Ben Yehuda Street, stopping into a couple of shops, including one where I know the shop owners (who were not there at the time, so we'll return later...). Shara and Daphne were hungry again, so after changing some Dollars into Sheckles, we made our way to Darna, a very nice and yummy Morracan restaurant on Horkanus Street. By the time we finished our "buisiness lunch" it was time to head back to pick up our rental car and head back to the kibbutz.

On the way back to the kibbutz, I thought it would be nice to drive Shara and Daphne close to the Old City. The views I had given them so far were nice, but nothing close yet. So we drove over the Sultan's Pool and up to the south east

towards the City of David and the Dung Gate. We lucked out and found a metered parking spot about 200 yards from the Dung Gate, so with time to spare, I decided to bring Shara and Daphne to see the Temple Mount and visit the Kotel - the Western Wall.

I gave my girls a brief overview of the history of the Kotel, the Old City, City of David, the "ownership" throughout the centuries, etc. as we walked along the ramparts, through the gate, and up to the security checkpoint. Once we passed through, I led them over the plaza, explained how to navigate the area, and decided upon a meeting point. The girls walked down into the women's section, while I waited a watched, with camera in hand. Shara's reaction to being down there was interesting, and worth a conversation with her. In a nutshell, she did not have a great experience, finding it very difficult to make it up to the Wall itself, she was glared at by at least one woman (Shara was covered fairly modestly as you can see), and the peddlers would not leave her alone. Overall, it wasn't a very holy experience for her...and knowing my wife, I am not surprised in the least.

I took my turn down on the men's side, went up to the Wall for about a minute's time, said a prayer, and then headed back to meet my family. Because this was a spontaneous trip, I did not bring the notes with me from our Religious School students, but not to worry! I'll bring them the next time I am there, probably next week.

Rain was beginning to fall, so we hustled back to the car and drove back to the kibbutz. Cornel, Cornial and Amit greeted us warmly, and offered us food, of course. Daphne enjoyed some pasta and yogurt, while Shara and I just enjoyed the company.

Later that evening, we drove back into town to meet a friend of ours, Mindy Davids, who is the Director of Education at Sha'arei T'fila in Manhattan, and she is also the newly installed president of NATE - the national organization for Reform Jewish Educators (of which both Deborah and I are members.) We joined her for a late dinner at a nice cafe in the new mall beneath the Old City. After downing a chocolate milkshake and complaining of being cold, Daphne curled up in my lap for warmth and comfort and fell asleep...let's hope she stays asleep all night this time! [So far so good!]

Following dinner we dropped Mindy back at her hotel and drove back to Ramat Rachel. Daphne easily transferred into bed, including a quick change of clothes, and Shara and I packed up four days worth of clothing for our journey north which will begin tomorrow morning...

Hopefully I'll have internet access where we will be staying the next three nights and continue this correspondence "live." If not, I'll write my posts and save them and upload them later like I did on the plane.

Now it's time for me to say "Lailah tov!"