Tuesday, June 25, Exploring the Old City

Well, this was a day for the ages.  And another day in Israel that I will never forget.  There were expected highs, and, of course, those unexpected moments that will stick with me forever.  And how privileged that I get to share the experience with Hayley.  She constantly amazes and impresses me with how she handles herself.  She is growing into quite the young woman.  I am so proud…

Our day began with the all important BREAKFAST at the hotel.  You all need to come with me to Israel just to experience these breakfasts!  Following this was something I have been anticipating for a long time now.  We celebrated Parker and Preston Lauinger becoming a bar mitzvah at the egalitarian section of the Wall.  I have led many bar and bat mitzvah services before, but I have never had the honor of officiating one at the Wall.  What an experience.  The egalitarian platform does not actually touch the Wall.  We are about 50 feet away from the Wall, but we are looking directly at it (actually the Western Wall we all know from the photos is to our left).  Beneath the platform you can actually see the destruction of the Temple in the form of rubble that clearly fell from the Temple Mount and has been left in its exact excavated position.  So we see the Wall in front of us, representing the strength of the Jewish people, and, right beneath is the rubble that represents the fragility of humanity.  And we were right in the middle.  It was a powerful place to be.  Here is our standard “Let’s do this” photo, this time with a much different backdrop.

When we got to the platform there were two other groups celebrating people becoming b’nai mitzvah.  One was from a synagogue and the other was what seemed to be a Birthright trip.  It was loud and distracting to say the least.  But after about 10 minutes, the Birthright group left and we moved ourselves right in front of the Wall to have the best view.  What followed was one of the most meaningful prayer moments I have experienced.  I love Parker and Preston and their mom, Alissa.  We have been connected to them since preschool at TAE and I was so excited when she brought her boys back to TAE in preparation for this b’nai mitzvah experience.  I have also had the honor of being with them and Alissa’s mom, Rocky, as they dealt with the passing of the boy’s grandfather a couple of years ago.  To stand with these two young men as they led our small congregation was really powerful and beautiful.  I was so grateful to be a part of that moment for them.  And special thanks to Hayley for taking these photos during the service so I can share them with you.

The most powerful moments were those when we faced the Wall for our prayers.  I was so moved after experiencing Ammunition Hill yesterday, and I could not get the thought of those soldiers weeping at the Wall after entering the Old City in 1967 out of my mind.  It was a moment that I will never forget and every time I turn towards the east when I am leading services at TAE I will remember those soldiers and how grateful I am to them for allowing me to have this experience.

Following our service and our impromptu hora that we danced together we made our way up to the Kotel, the Wall.  I did what I always do when I head to the Wall, I stand beneath the stone I chose as my stone 6 years ago when I first made my way to this most holy place.  I always make my way to this part of the Wall.  It was another meaningful moment.  

This visit to the Wall was short-lived because Parker and Preston and their family had to make their way to their next activity and I had a meeting scheduled with Rivka, our Da’at rep who I have been working with on the planning of this trip.  Walking through the itinerary got me so excited to begin this journey with the 43 souls from the TAE community.  It is going to be an epic adventure that I cannot wait to experience!

After this, Hayley and I walked back to the Old City from our hotel.  I think that the Old City is my most favorite place in all of Israel.  I love to explore the many confusing streets and pathways that lead to the different quarters and different shops.  I love to experience the people of all faiths seeking their special connection to Israel.  We are in the Middle East in the middle of summer, which means it is HOT here.  So to cool off we made a stop at Aroma and had our second experience.  And then we started walking.  We had no set schedule, except our desire to experience the Burnt House and work our way up to the rooftops of the Old City to get a view of the Temple Mount from the best vantage point. 

We walked to the Burnt House and discovered the next showing in English was in about 30 minutes, which was the perfect amount of time for us to grab our first falafel of the trip.  There is nothing like falafel in Israel.  Everything just tastes better here.  

It was finally time for us to experience the Burnt House, one of my favorite places in the Old City.  I have been here on each of my trips and it never disappoints.  It is in the middle of the Old City and takes you underground to ruins from an upper-class house from the Second Temple period.  This site is one of the most moving testimonies of what happened in 70 CE that led to the destruction of the Temple.  It is an actual archeological site, and through a multimedia presentation it tells the story of this family.  At the site the archeologists found  a broken stone with the inscription “D’Bar Katros” on it, identifying the tenant who lived in this home.  This name is also found in the Talmud as the name of one of the 24 priestly families who worked in the Temple.  The Burnt House focuses on the fact that in the Old City at this time there were two different factions living in the Upper City and the Lower City, one the upper class, and one the poor.  And while the Temple was ultimately destroyed by the Romans who were camped outside the gates, it was our fighting with each other that led to our demise.  This lesson of us just getting along with each other is still a lesson we need to learn today.  One wonderful part of this experience is that it is air conditioned!  A nice break from the 90+ degree, high humidity day we had outside.

Following the experience at the Burnt House we went in search of the best rooftop view of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.  Our friend and Da’at rep Nimrod suggested we go to Aish HaTorah and pay the 10 shekels to go to their rooftop.  We finally found the entrance and Nimrod was absolutely right.  This was an AMAZING view.  We stood in awe at the place where we were standing. 

What happened next was absolutely unexpected.  As we were walking down from the rooftops, Rabbi Seth (who gladly took our 20 shekels at the entrance) was standing with another couple on the stairwell and looked at us and said, “Come with me, I want to show you something.”  We did as we were told and Rabbi Seth took the four of us into a circular movie theatre an told us to sit…  The lights dimmed and he showed us a movie about why the Wall is so important to Jews.  It was a terrific 4 minute movie, but we noticed that one of the people with us, James, a man from Australia began to weep.  As the movie ended he continues to sob for a few minutes.  Hayley and I and the lady he was with just sat there in silence as he let released his emotions in a raw display.  It is as if he finally understood why this place was so important.  It brought tears to my eyes.  And then, Rabbi said, you want to see something else?  Follow me!  Hey, when the rabbi asks you o do something, you don’t say no!  He took us down to the first floor into what he called the “VIP” room, where people of high prominence come in in order to have privacy as they create the prayers they want to bring and place in the walls.  Countless famous people have been in this room, with no windows or doors, total privacy in order to keep out the paparazzi.  He explained why the room was so important and then gave us each a moment to create our own prayers that we could take to the Wall and place them between the stones.  Both Hayley and I took a lot of time writing our private prayers and we will place them in the Wall next week when we are here with our community.  Only in Israel! 

Our walk back to the hotel was filled with discussions of God, and the role God plays in our world.  It was a deep and meaningful discussion.  I am so proud of how Hayley views the world and the seriousness that she takes her responsibility to bring healing to our broken humanity.  She feels things on a deeper level than I ever have.  I stand in awe of her.

Our conversations continued over dinner and as we turn in for the night, we are looking forward to the next adventure Israel brings our way.  We know one thing for sure, she will surprise us!  We will find connection and meaning even where it is least expected.  My heart is full!