Dateline Jerusalem – For me, no city is as beautiful as Jerusalem. All I could see was a panorama of white glistening Jerusalem stone buildings against a deeply blue sky as my bus climbed the hill approaching the entrance to the city. Blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag. Jerusalem stone is a limestone ranging from white to beige to pinkish in color that has been used in construction of Jerusalem buildings since ancient times. The city is unique in that ancient buildings sit next to modern ones, and archeological excavations take place in bustling neighborhoods. Jerusalem is like being in a time machine. It can be futuristic with its modernity and at the same time it makes me feel as though I am living history.
A friend from the States, her son, a friend from Rehovot, and I met at the Kotel (coh-tell), also known as the Western Wall of the Temple Mount or the Wailing Wall. I am particularly affected by the Kotel. When I approach the Wall, I get shivers from the top of my head to my feet. My arms grow goose bumps. Friends are amazed when they see the physical reaction I get.
Becoming a Man
Often young boys of 13 have their bar mitzvah at the Kotel. What could be a holier place to enter Jewish manhood? However, this was the first time I had seen an Ethiopian bar mitzvah. There was a procession walking toward the Kotel. The Ethiopian bar mitzvah boy walked under a chuppah, a wedding canopy held up by four men, as family and friends in native dress accompanied him. Musicians played assorted native drums, flutes and trumpets. Usually the chuppah is for weddings. Ethiopian Jews believe that the bar mitzvah should also take place under a chuppah.
Wall of History and Mystery
The Kotel is the last remnant of the wall surrounding the Second Holy Temple, which stood on the Temple Mount and was destroyed 2,000 years ago. It replaced the First Temple, built by King Solomon and destroyed 3,000 years ago. It is the holiest place on earth for Jews because the Temple was built where G-d created the world and mankind. All over the world Jews face toward the Kotel when they pray, the “heart and essence of the Jewish nation.” Every Passover we say, “Next year in Jerusalem.”
Palestinians, who claim they want Jerusalem as their capitol, pray with their backs to the mosque that they built over the Temple Mount, their faces toward Mecca, Islam's holiest site.
While the skies of Jerusalem are blue, above the Kotel they appear bluer, a perfect hue that cannot be duplicated by a palette of oil paints or box of crayons. Unique. I recited my prayers, placed folded pieces of paper with my special requests to G-d in the crevices of the Wall, and touched the cold blocks of stone, feeling the presence of G-d the entire time. I walked backward from the Wall, just as anyone who sees a king would do, for it is an insult to turn your back on a king. And G-d is the King of the Universe.
Jews continuously have prayed at the Kotel, even when Jerusalem was under foreign control, except for a period of 19 years when Jordan refused Jews access to the Old City of Jerusalem and the Wall. Article VIII of the 1949 Armistice Agreement to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War provided for Israeli and Jewish access to the Wall. The Jordanians said no. The United Nations and other international groups refused to enforce the terms of the armistice. Only in 1967, when Israel liberated Jerusalem, were Jews once again able to pray at their holiest site. That is why Israel cannot go back to the pre-1967 lines, why it is so important that no international bodies control Jerusalem, and that Jewish religious sites remain under Israeli control. Jerusalem always has been the capitol of the Jewish nation and must remain so.
Oh, My, the Feast
My friends and I went to a neighborhood in Jerusalem that is home to an all-you-can- eat glatt kosher/mehadrin restaurant. Our lunch lasted almost three hours at a Brazilian restaurant noted for their Brazilian Table. I have been to Argentinian restaurants here, never Brazilian. According to ancient Brazilian folklore, coffee farmers and their workers would celebrate a seasonal meal of meats after all the crops were gathered on the hacienda.
We had sux kinds of salad, bread, rice, beans, potatoes, cubed yams in a sweet chili sauce, and assorted vegetables to accompany the meal of slow roasted beef and poultry. Waiters brought us slices of marinated London Broil, a slab of entrecote beef (rib roast) sliced at the table, ground beef kabobs, grilled chicken drumsticks, skewers of both marinated spring chicken and teriyaki flavored chicken breast, chicken livers with fried onions in a delicate sauce, and my favorite dish of the day, marinated braised veal that melted in my mouth.
Waiters continued to bring plates of food as long as we had the hourglass timer on our table turned to the green side, meaning go, bring us more. The red side meant stop. We had it on green the entire time. I enjoyed the food and company so much tI could have stayed longer. But how many hours can be spent on lunch?
L’hitraot. Shachar