Wrapping up

It's been a hectic last few days, so this will be sketchy.

Sunday:
- Southern wall excavations and Davidson center. Awesome tour. Very cool computer model of second temple. Exhibit of coins found near Temple mount both local and from around the world. Roman mile marker noting 1 mile from Jerusalem, that never made it to the right location (thrown away in the workshop when they had to scratch out the governor's name?)
- Last falafel in Israel in Christian Quarter near Jaffa Gate (Placemats with 6 ways to eat Hummus and what it says about you).
- International Arts Festival with Israeli and international artists, some cute performances for kids, and the kids first rock concert - a guy with a beard and tzitzit (Eviatar Benai) - excellent!

Monday:
- Pick up car (all Israeli car rentals are a complete balagan. They asked us if we had returned the car from last time! Duh - they checked it in and have it in their garage!)
- Cafe in Modi'in for lunch and then play ground
- Latrun to the Armored Corp Museum and Memorial. Fun to climb on the tanks and moving to learn about the loyalty and camaraderie and challenges of serving in Israel's armored corp.
- Great dinner and hanging out time with Eyal's family in Kiryat Ono. SO welcoming! Dinner, Playground in Ramat Gan, back to house for coffee (long night ahead of us), packing sandwiches for the road...
- Very late to the airport ...

Tuesday:
- Traveling all day. Now in Amsterdam, settling in for a long layover.


Really too tired to do a real summary. We're all glad to be going home, where we speak the language, don't feel like someone is trying to take advantage of us all the time, we know the "rules"of daily interactions. Sad to be leaving our wonderful family time together (what a great bonding experience this has been for the kids), and new adventures, sights, smells, and tastes every day (we've all grown and learned so much).

Photos to follow soon...

Last Shabbat in Israel

A wonderful last Shabbat in Israel. We went this morning to the Biblical Zoo. We had a very interesting cab driver on the way there, who told his his whole life story during the 20 minute ride. He is an Arab, married to a Christian woman. He was out late last night at an Eid al Fitr (end of Ramadan) party, even though he doesn't fast for Ramadan. He told us that Muslim kids start fasting at the age of 7 (!) because then it is easier for them when they get older since they are used to it.

The Zoo was terrific. The only Biblical things about it are a Noah's ark center with a snack bar and video, and any of the animals which are mentioned in the Bible have a quote on their information sign. Overall, we were impressed with the zoo layout, the way the animals seemed to be very happy and well cared for, etc. The zoo is in a lovely setting on the outskirts of Jerusalem with lots of shade, fantastic landscaping, and beautiful views.

In the afternoon, we took a cab to the Inbal and went swimming in the Gold's pool with Eli and Noa. It was a great way to spend a little extra cousin time and cool off too.

Finally, in the evening, we all got together (Musher-Eizenmans, Golds, Grandpa and Jussara) for one last group dinner (and to celebrate my birthday) at Focaccia. Unfortunately, Jake wasn't feeling well, so he didn't come (we missed you, Jake!). But the rest of us had a great time -- except when Charles almost broke the restaurant trying to turn off the speaker by our table ;)  Good food, good wine, and a great time being together. At the end of the meal, they brought a chocolate cake and ice cream with sparklers in it - very nice!

After dinner, we went for a walk on Ben Yehuda Street as it came to life at the end of Shabbat. We ate more ice cream and poked around in the shops. There was a Japanese Christian singing group that was pretty good, so we stayed to listen for a while. After a couple of songs, 2 Swiss women approached us and started talking. I immediately saw where it was going, but didn't mind having a conversation, so we stayed and let them tell us all about how they believe that the Jews were created by God to be a light unto the nations, but that Jesus is God and died for their sins, and they encourage us to consider that in our own lives. I wonder how successful they are trying to convert American Jewish tourists to Christianity. Not very, I would guess. We talked for a few minutes, with me emphasizing how important it is for people to respect one another's differing opinions, and them agreeing and still trying to convert us. What a country!

I polled our family this morning on some summary thoughts as we wind down our trip. Here are the results --

What is your favorite thing about Israel:

Abe: It's truly inspiring the way people came here from all over the world and turned nothing into everything that it is now.
Dara: I love that it's a place where you can be Jewish without standing out and being different, or even making much effort most of the time.
Ella: I think it's amazing that in 2 hours you can go from an ocean to a desert.
Jonah: Being able to wake up and not wonder what to wear. It's always hot and it never rains, so you always know you can wear shorts
Sylvia: Camels. Me saw camels.

What is your favorite food in Israel:
Abe: Israeli breakfast (falafel as a close second)
Dara: rugelach
Ella: shwarma
Jonah: hummus and pita
Sylvia: pink popsicles

What is your favorite city in Israel:
Abe: Historically, Jerusalem, but to live, definitely Tel Aviv
Dara: Haifa
Ella: It's a little bit hot in Tel Aviv for me, but I like all the shopping there. I also like Jerusalem a lot (I would live in Jerusalem).
Jonah: Eilat
Sylvia: Akko (and "where are we going?")

What are you looking forward to the most about home:
Abe: My house, my car, and bringing some of the energy that we've experienced here to work and living back home.
Dara: Cooking with foods I understand in my own kitchen
Jonah: Being with my friends
Ella: Seeing my friends, listening to the sound of rain, going back to school, and Pandora
Sylvia: Deer. Me miss deer.

Taking it easy in Jerusalem

After the day we had yesterday, a mellow day was in order. We started by sleeping late (for us that's about 9:30 if we're lucky!) and then trying to get our things organized for packing to take home. Of course we have quite a bit more stuff than we came with, so it's a challenge! We got about halfway through organizing (you know, to that point where everything is a complete mess) and left to meet Harley and Gabrielle for lunch. We met them at their rental apartment in the cool neighborhood around Ben Sira, and walked over to the Vegan place (Village Green) on Jaffa for lunch. Good food, fresh salads and soups. We loved hearing about all of the off-the-beaten-path adventures they've been having in Israel

After lunch we walked back to our apartment to spend a little time hanging out with the Golds. We shared photos from Noa's bat mitzvah, ate the candy they had bought at the shuk (which they affectionately called salmonella candy - they were not impressed with the sanitary conditions of the candy store!), and heard some wacky tour group stories.


Sylvia slept a bit while we tried again to get organized, finally giving up and going out for one last Friday afternoon at the shuk experience (Abe's simile of the day was that the shuk on Friday afternoon is like Costco the day before Christmas if Costco only had one aisle and one check out). As it turned out, 4:30 is somewhat less busy than 3, as some of the shops are already closing up, and many people have gone home to get ready for Shabbat. But, there was still the same hectic, "I need to sell all of my pita before I go home" atmosphere, yummy smells, and terrific people watching. We bought just a couple of things - the kids got some (wrapped) Israeli candy for their friends, some grapes (special Friday afternoon discount), and of course, rugelach.

After changing clothes, we walked to the Old City to experience Kabbalat Shabbat at the Kotel (which we had not done when we were in Jerusalem before). We knew Amy and Charles and the kids were there, so as we approached I asked, "does anyone see the Golds?" and Sylvia excitedly pointed at the Dome of the Rock and said, "I do, I do!" (the Dome is gold). We met up with them just for a quick hello before their bus left for dinner at the hotel.

We hung around at the Wall for a little while, soaking in the atmosphere. Although the Kotel is obviously a very special place, our family has a hard time with the segregated nature of it. We talked a bit about how nice it will be if they go ahead with the plan to add an egalitarian section. We also talked about how the cultures differ on the men's and women's sides. The diversity of (Jewish)

people at the Kotel was amazing. Students, soldiers, tourists, black hats, fur hats, and more. We thought about how much stronger Israel could be if this diversity were celebrated by everyone in the country. By the time we left, it was packed on both sides and in the plaza.

We walked back through the Armenian Quarter and chose an open restaurant, Bulghourji, with a really charming courtyard out back. We ordered several Armenian specialties, but unfortunately they were all out of most of them! In addition to some more mainstream fare, we did get Armenian kubbeh (yum) and moutabal (a roasted eggplant dip). I tried Taybeh beer (a Palestinian beer) which was pretty good. All in all a good meal, and open on Shabbat!

A 20 hour day!

4:15 am. The alarm went off and we reluctantly got out of bed, took showers, and started packing up. We woke the big kids soon after (after all, it was their idea to do this sunrise hike up Masada!), but let Sylvia sleep in as late as possible (4:40 am). We packed lots of water & some breakfast foods, and checked out of the hostel. We made it to Masada by about 5:10 (by the way, the temperature on the car thermometer at that time was about 90 degrees) and started the climb up the snake path in the very faint pre-dawn light. The climb was harder than we expected (especially with a baby in a backpack on Abe’s back and 3 liters of water in a backpack on mine), but we kept on going. We reached the top in about 50 minutes, just as the sun peeked over the top of the mountains facing us. It was a beautiful sight and an amazing feeling of accomplishment (especially when you consider that we kept pace with kids 20 years younger than us). I still have mixed feelings about the whole idea of a sunrise hike, but I’m glad we did it.

Once we got to the top, we found a little ruined house with some low walls to sit on and had a secret breakfast (you're not really supposed to eat up there). The juice, bread, and fruit was very welcome after the long hike. Since we were planning to tour around with the Gold's tour group later, we just took it easy for a little while, waiting for the cable car to start running and bring up their group. They made it to the top around 8:30 and we all went to the ancient Beit Hamidrash (study house) for Noa's bat mitzvah (along with the other b'nai mitzvah kids in her group). The service was led by a wonderful rabbi (originally from New York, has lived in Jerusalem for 30 years) who did a really amazing job of making the relatively brief (1 hour) service meaningful, special, and warm. Noa was a star - she read Torah like a professional! She also did an English reading in the service. We were really proud of her and moved by the whole service. 

After the service and some photos, we joined the tour for their visit to Masada. Their tour guide is a very knowledgeable guy, tells good stories, some funny jokes. His main weakness is that he goes on way too long. We sat in a shaded area for him to tell us the story of Masada (I expected 20 minutes) and he went on for an hour and 20. He covered every emperor Rome ever had as the background to the Masada story. In a nutshell, Masada was originally a retreat for the Roman king of Judea, Herod. Later, when the Romans destroyed the Temple, a group of several hundred Jews camped out on Masada in revolt of the Roman's attempts to destroy their way of life. After a several month siege, however, it became clear that the Romans would take Masada soon. Nearly a thousand Jews committed mass suicide (actually, the drew lots to determine who would kill the others and only the last one committed suicide) rather than give themselves over to the Romans. Masada is considered a testimony to the Jewish commitment to our ideals and principals, which makes it a very meaningful place for a bat mitzvah. 

After the rather long background, the group went to walk around and look at the various remaining structures on the top. We decided to go our own way and walked to the southern end to see Herod's swimming pool and the amazingly deep water cisterns. We also went to see the ancient synagogue (it was a stable until after the destruction of the Temple). There was actually a man sitting in it (behind a glass wall) writing a Torah. We checked out a few other sites, and were ready to take the cable car down. We met up with the Golds at the bottom (in the extensive gift shop, food court area that has been built there recently) and had a nice lunch together. 

The drive back to Jerusalem was interesting. We drove back on route 90 and route 1 - roads which go through the West Bank, but are under Israeli control (which makes them ok for us to drive on in our rental car). It was very interesting driving this route, and I have to say, I don't fully understand it. There were check points at either end, but no real check (which might have had something to do with the Avis stickers plastered all over our car). I don't know how far on either side of the roads Israeli control extends. but we were surprised to see almost no development along the 90 minute route, other than maybe 1 gas station and 1 cafe cafe (which is an Israeli restaurant chain). We could see some (nice) housing developments in the distance. It would be interesting to understand more about the evolving relationship between these two governments and how they are managing this quasi-sharing of the region. 

We drove as close as we could to our *last* hotel in Israel - The Market courtyard, an awesome apartment/vacation rental place in an amazing neighborhood right across from Machane Yehuda (the shuk). The place is on a pedestrian street, with narrow alleys all around with a major thoroughfare (Agripas Road) at the end of it. Needless to say, it was not easy driving, but Abe did a great job, found a temporary parking spot in a nearby alley and we unloaded the stuff and brought it into our (very nice) apartment. We got the kids settled in (snack & wifi password and they're good to go) and headed out once more to return the car. The drive north to the car rental place went right through Mea Shearim, an ultra orthodox neighborhood, which made me nervous about the walk home (since I was wearing capris and a t-shirt). But, we found an alternate route, and has no problems. 

We checked in on the kids (more snacks, plenty of ipads) and went out one more time, this time to Ben Yehuda Street to do a few errands (bat mitzvah gift for Noa, reservation for dinner Saturday night, a couple of souvenirs we wanted, groceries). All errands were successfully completed - something I don't think has ever happened in Jerusalem before - at least not for us! 

Next, showers and dressed for Noa's bat mitzvah party. Sylvia had slept through the tour guide's lecture this morning, and the big kids had slept a little bit in the car, but we were all pretty tired. Nonetheless, the cool Jerusalem breeze, which we haven't felt in a long time, convinced us to walk the mile and a half to the Inbal Hotel (a nice, downhill walk through our "old neighborhood" from June). The bat mitzvah party was fantastic - really nice in every way. There was a great cocktail hour with an open bar and yummy passed hors d'oeuvres.  Then an awesome band who kept everyone dancing all night. Delicious food. A touching candle lighting ceremony where the kids lit candles for important and inspiring Jewish figures from history. In the lobby there was some Orthodox speed dating event, which led Amy and the kids to invent a game about Orthodox dating ("You like the Talmud? *I* like the Talmud!"). The Israeli band somehow knew all of the American Bat mitzvah classics (YMCA, We are family, Celebration, I've got a Feeling, etc). Each kid had their chance to be lifted up on a chair. Everything about it was perfect, and we had a blast. We finally left around 11:30, and took a fast bus home (we were the only ones on it), and put the kids to bed around midnight. Hopefully, we'll all sleep late tomorrow.