Dressing up and Drinking

It's Purim today in most of Israel, and tomorrow in Jerusalem (because it's a walled city and fighting went on longer in the walled city where the event that is being commemorated happened).  Both days are holidays -- not shabbat type holidays, but Western weekend type holidays. Some shops are open, schools are closed.

Purim commemorates the saving of the Jewish people in Persia, the story is in the book of Esther. It's a bit like Hallowe'en, everyone is dressed up -- well, not today, for now it's just the really keen folks and children. Firecrackers are going off. Festivals and public parties are the order of the day. Instead of candy, it's cookies for Purim. They are called Haman's (the scheming Persian prime minister whose plot to kill the Jews Esther, and her adoptive father Mordecai, foiled) ears -- triangles of dough filled with poppy seeds or prunes. Yum!

And, get this, it's the one day of the year that you are meant to get drunk...drunk enough that you lose certain cognitive functions, like the ability to distinguish the phrases "cursed is Haman" and "blessed is Mordecai"...whether you lose those functions because you are sleeping or blotto is a matter of some debate.

 If I get some pictures tomorrow at the street party I'll post them here.

street party in Nachlaot

a carrot and bunny i know

Purim - Jerusalem February 25, 2013

beer, beer, beer

News & Views

I'm just back from a long weekend roadtrip to the North and the Golan. It's still winter in the Golan but we (Theresa and I) had a great time. More on that soon when I have the pictures sorted.

This week coalition talks continue and things are not getting any clearer. Bibi is in the trenches to make the coalition he wants -- it's looking like he might have to cede more than he ever has before. It's also looking like the Palestinian issue (or in Hebrew the "diplomatic issue") is going to be far more central to this government's (when it is formed) mandate than the elections would have had us believe.  Bibi has until March 15 to make a coalition government. If he cannot, President Peres will invite someone else to form a coalition. If he or she fails then there will be another election in mid-July. Meanwhile, Bibi's taking the heat for the saga of "Prisoner X" (and the attempt to censor the story) and for his ice cream budget! It was such a scandal that Netanyahu has cancelled his ice cream contract (USD 2800 per year). I feel a bit badly for him; I can imagine that a regular supply of pistachio gelato helps to soothe the life of the PM.

In weather news we are getting warmer daytime highs and feeling the heat of the sun again, but the nighttime lows are lower than they were in most of January. I continue to get good wear out of my down jacket!

This weekend we drove back to Jerusalem through the Jordan and Bet Shean valleys where spring is about to give over to summer (at 200 m below sea level the seasons are ahead!). It was a treat to be so warm. As we climbed out of the Judean desert and back into the Judean hills the mercury dropped and we remembered -- at 800 m above sea level it's a bumpy ride through spring! 

Jerusalem the Green & Mount of Olives

Everything is green.

From Mt Zion, looking north to Mamilla (Yemin Moshe on L)

 
Jerusalem really looks completely different after a winter of heavy rains.  These pictures were taken last Monday when Theresa and I took the morning off and walked up Mount of Olives and over to Mt Scopus (where the university is). (Photo credits: TT)

The route to the Mount of Olives from the German Colony goes by a boatload of historic and sacred sites, not all of them were on our itinerary.

From the Cinematheque bridge looking north toward Jaffa Gate (Yemin Moshe on L)

Yemin Moshe was the first Jewish neighbourhood outside of the walled city. Built in 1891, it was constructed to relieve crowding in the Jewish Quarter. Today it's considered a premiere neighbourhood in Jerusalem, but it's not always been so desirable. When the City was divided from 1948-1967, Jordanian snipers often volleyed shots into the neighbourhood!

Yemin Moshe

The Dormition Abbey is a Benedictine abbey just outside the Zion Gate on the south end of the Old City on Mount Zion. [ed. note. Mary is meant to have died at the Dormition Abbey]. King David's tomb is also on Mt Zion. And, the Last Supper is meant to have been served at Mt Zion.

Mt Zion - Old City and the Dormition Abbey (04.02.2013)

At the Dormition Abbey

The Dormition Abbey

We passed a bar mitzvah celebration. Some families celebrate by coming to Jerusalem, hiring some musicians and dancing into the Western Wall.

A bar mitzvah party

At the southeast corner of the Old City there are great views of Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

Theresa (Al-Aqsa behind)

Continuing east we descended into the Kidron Valley (in the Bible this is the Valley of Jehoshaphat).

Kidron Valley looking southwest toward Silwan

The east side of the Kidron Valley is the western slope of the Mount of Olives. This is where the burial sites start.  Observant Jews and Christians consider it an honour to be buried on the western slope of the Mount of Olives. Why? Because when the Messiah comes, he'll come here first.  King David and Jesus both ascended Mount of Olives as they exited Jerusalem.

Kidron Valley -- Tomb of Zechariah and Tomb of Benei Hezir

Here's another cemetery in the Kidron Valley. East beyond the walls of the Old City is the Temple Mount where you find the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Kidron Valley looking west to Old City

I'm not sure if this part of the cemetery has its own name. It's across the way from the Garden of Gethsemane ("oil press" named for the olive trees) and the Church of All Nations.
 

Church of All Nations - Garden of Gethsemane to left

The Garden is most famous as the place where Jesus and his disciples prayed the night before he was arrested.

On the way up the Mount of Olives there are more churches, including the Russian Orthodox Church of Maria Magdalene...

Church of Maria Magdalene

and more gravesites. This is the Jewish cemetery:

Jewish cemetery Mt of Olives

And then the view from the top of Mount of Olives:

Looking south -- at the centre top is the Dormition Abbey

Looking west to the Old City

Still looking west - wide angle

From the Mt of Olives we walked the rolling 2 km route to the Hebrew U campus on Mt Scopus. Right at the edge, where Mount of Olives turns into Mount Scopus there is a Lutheran Centre on the west side of the road, and a Christian Hospital on the east. The road narrows, acquires fencing and the sidewalk disappears. It's as if one isn't meant to walk from Mount of Olives to Mt Scopus. Thankfully, it's a short walk and the traffic was respectful of us on the road.

From Mount Scopus there is a spectacular view east to the Judean Desert (the West Bank) and beyond, the Dead Sea, and the mountains of Jordan. In the summer this view is of burnt desert -- it is astonishingly green right now. And you can really see how the amount of precipitation falls off precipitously! In the bottom right of this photo the road you can see disappears into a tunnel. This road links to Hwy 1, the Israeli road that goes to the Dead Sea; there's a checkpoint on the west side a bit east (around the hill on the right of the picture) of the tunnel [ed note: earlier I made an error in describing where the checkpoint is. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused!)

East to the Judean desert from Mt Scopus

The east side of Hebrew U's Mt. Scopus campus

Isawiya the Arab (Palestinian) neighbourhood that is on the eastern slope of Mt Scopus

Me, calling our friend Amit to meet us for falafel lunch

After stuffing ourselves with falafel for lunch we hopped on the bus and headed down to Mahane Yehuda (the shuk) to get some groceries.

What's with my name?

As it turns out, it's a bit funny introducing oneself as "Christina" in a predominantly Jewish town.  The nature of the Jewish diaspora is that I can pass as Jewish until I tell people my name.

I'm not and have never been a practicing Christian, but it is obviously the tradition I most identify with -- Christmas & Easter being the biggest events on my "religious" calendar. But, having a name that suggests fidelity to Christianity is meaningful when you live in the Holy Land. It means some folks identify me by religion first, which is really a new experience.

I am quite certain this happens to people all the time in Canada, in person and on paper. It doesn't happen to me though, because in Canada my name is not unique. But, names that suggest their carriers (people) are adherents to a certain religion and/or ethnic group that isn't -- I don't know -- quite "Canadian" yet probably have this experience regularly. I overheard some American-Israelis discussing Barack Obama's inauguration speech and someone said, "Isn't it scary his second name is Hussein?  ...Um, no.

But, is a name ever just a name? What is a name if it isn't a categorization, an identity, a memory of someone or something? And, does it ever mean the same thing to the holder of the name as to the hearer of the name?

January Roundup

Forming a coalition

It's almost official: President Peres is now expected to ask Netanyahu to form the coalition, he's completed his consultations with various Members of the Knesset and party leaders. As I wrote a couple of days ago, this is not news, everyone has already starting jockeying for position and Bibi has been offering up portfolios.

 

Syria

I cannot say that the IAF attack on Syria's Jamraya military research center has become water cooler conversation yet, but I guess we'll see.

 

Weather

Winter returned yesterday. It's cold and raining (cats and dogs!). We were close to snow this morning. On the ride up to campus, the bus windshield was thick with slushy lumps. And, our living room is a pool again! Four, maybe six, more weeks of winter. It won't rain continuously, but we will be subject to these nasty outbursts. I cannot wait to stop wearing 3 layers of shirts and fleece and a down jacket inside all the time! And, I definitely won't miss my shift with the squeegee in the living room!

 

Gatekeepers

The first time I tried to see this movie, we had hoped for the early show; it was sold out, so was the late show. Extra screenings have been added at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, everyone wants to see it and lots of folks are talking about. What's it about? From the Cinematheque's website:

Charged with overseeing Israel's war on terror-both Palestinian and Jewish-the head of Israel's secret service, is present at the crossroad of every decision made. For the first time ever, six former heads of the agency agreed to share their insights and reflect publicly on their actions and decisions. The Gatekeepers offers an exclusive account of the reasons that each man individually and the six as a group came to reconsider their hard-line positions and advocate a conciliatory approach toward their enemies based on a two-state solution.
The Gatekeepers is nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary.

The secret service is called Shin Bet -- basically they are the FBI equivalent. (Mossad is like the CIA.)  If you do go see this movie, I'd recommend brushing up on your history from the Six Days War of 1967 forward. Those of you who lived through that time as adults might find you remember enough -- the movie assumes a fluency with, and detail of, Israeli history that I just don't have yet.  For that reason, and that when you read subtitles it limits how much time you get to take in the film, I'd like to see it again.  My landlady, Hedda, saw the film a couple of days before I did.  When I told her I'd seen it she asked what I thought. I said, "Umm...it's profound and I don't think I've processed it." She said, "Ken, whywhywhywhywhy." Which is Hebrew for "Yes; I was overwhelmed in a negative way." Yup, it's a profound film. I saw the movie with an Israeli friend who said, about the movie, "It makes me want to cry." And, it makes the current government's position (and the likely new coalition) on the Palestinian issue all the more frustrating.

The Gatekeepers is a unique and profound comment on the Israeli-Palestinian situation. See it if you can.

Ein Karem

Way back at the beginning of December, on a fine weekend of weather -- clear blue skies and full sunshine with daytime highs of about 20C -- Theresa and I took full advantage and did two big walks in the city. The Friday we spent on the west side of Jerusalem in and around Ein Karem; on the Saturday we were on the east side of Jerusalem, up the Mount of Olives. (I haven't any photos of Saturday's excursion since my camera disappeared (magically) when we reached the top of the Mount of Olives and suddenly found ourselves in a crowd of touts!)


Ein Karem is a charming village on the far west edge of Jerusalem -- it's now effectively an upscale suburb. Reputedly the birthplace of John the Baptist, the village is filled with Christian landmarks.  We took the bus out to the Hadassah Medical Centre Ein Karem (this is where you find the famous Chagall windows, but they are not open for viewing at the weekend). Then we walked down into the valley toward Ein Karem.

The view from Hadassah to Ein Karem

Terraced agriculture -- found throughout the Judean Hills

On the footpath to Ein Karem

Along the way we saw the Moscobye Orthodox Russian Church, begun before WWI and finished recently:

The golden onions of the Moscobye (photo credit: T Tribaldos)

And, we stopped at the Church of the Visitation.

Church of the Visitation

Pop Quiz!

What visitation? Who visited whom? When? Why? The hint is in the mosaic in the pic above. The story is that Mary was pregnant with Jesus when she visited her cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist. I have no idea why: perhaps because pregnant cousins want to hang out and catch up? Um, sometime before Jesus was born?

Mosaics of flora and fauna decorate the floor of the church:

After the Church we stopped in at Mary's spring. This is meant to be where Mary drew water to drink on that same visit to Elizabeth.

In need of scrub -- Mary's Spring

Later a mosque (see the minaret) was built over the spring

After stopping for coffee we moved on to visit the Church of Saint John which is built upon the spot where John the Baptist is said to have been born.

On the way to the Church of St. John

At the church

At the church

Ceramic plaques of a prayer in multiple languages at the Church of St. John

From there we hiked up to Mt Herzl (near to Yad Vashem).

Follow the Jerusalem Lion (the trail marker)

On the path to Mt Herzl

From Mt Herzl we hopped on the tram to Mahane Yehuda (the shuk) where we went for lunch.

The next day we (Theresa and I) walked west around the south end of the Old City, past the Zion Gate and the Dormition, down into the Kidron Valley, up to the Garden of Gethsemane. We stopped at all the churches on our way to the top of the mount. And, I took some great pictures! Alas, they left my possession along with my camera. So, we are planning to redo that hike and get some great photos. The view of the Old City from the east is truly magical!

Plus ça change...

The talks to form a coalition are underway and it appears that nothing new is on the horizon. Labour rejected an offer to join the government; they will stay in Opposition.  Bibi is contemplating his options. There are efforts to form a Haredi bloc; Yesh Atid (There is a future) and Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) -- not the most obvious of partners -- are discussing a possible alliance. Apparently, Bibi has 100 days to form a coalition. I cannot imagine the backroom negotiations going on -- a serious chess game for politicians. I suppose if one feeds off that sort of thing, Israel is the place to practice politics. It doesn't get any better than this.

Meanwhile, the people have a bit of a hangover. Just wait a minute...who is this Yair Lapid (head of Yesh Atid)? He's a former tv anchorman (think a younger Peter Mansbridge) who is minimally educated, but attractive and charismatic. Just what is his centrist party's platform? And rega (wait), he's talking to Habayit Hayehudi? And, worse, just last night he announced on national television he doesn't know what portfolio to accept in the coalition (Bibi's people say Lapid can have whatever portfolio he wants - Finance, Foreign Affairs), but he is sure that one day he'll be prime minister.  His political career started last year (Jan 2012) when he left journalism to found Yesh Atid.

Generally, it seems like younger leftist voters were more excited by the election results than older voters. Older voters knew they were seeing the same wine in a different bottle. The centre in Israel tends to be (re)occupied by (new) parties that don't have overly grand visions; they tend to get broad populist support. This is not surprising; gradual change tends to work well for folks who are doing reasonably well in life. (I cannot relate any stories from more right-leaning voters -- I don't know folks that vote that way well enough to learn more of their opinions.)

For people who see Israel in need of an acute policy overhaul (addressing economic inequalities, limiting state support of ultra-Orthodox and requiring them to be in service to the state (army, civil service), managing immigration, addressing Arab-Israeli issues, and finally, resolving the Palestinian issue) the centrist position is frustrating. It means little change can be expected.  And, with life in Israel on the decline, not just economically (for many) and social tensions (inside and outside) on the incline, well, this is desperately frustrating.