Dec 14, 2011 - Settling into Jerusalem

After a long time of eating out, we are happy to have an apartment with a kitchen and a grocery store nearby. Tomorrow we will shop at the outdoor market which is known for having better fruits and vegetables. The bustling street outside our window is a big change from Sfat. We are over stores on King George St, which reminds me of Broadway in the 90's (cross streets, not years) in NYC.

Nov 10, 2011 - Jerusalem . . . and more . . .

We've been here before. And, for me, I've seen some of the usual stuff numerous times. Masada . . . The Dead Sea . . . Yad Vashem . . . The Dead Sea Scrolls . . . you know the list. They're wonderful and I could go back again and again. But I have a very creative cousin. Itzak has put together an itinerary that is taking us to places we've never even heard of. Wonderful! Today we drove to Jerusalem. I've been to Jerusalem numerous times but never via the Burma Road. No, not the Chinese Burma Road . . . the Israeli Burma Road. It was a...

Aug 19, 2011 - Proceed to The David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel

Since it will be mid-afternoon already by the time we leave the airport and travel to our hotel in Jerusalem, this evening will mainly consist of unpacking and preparing my temporary 'home' for the next 7 days. Once I'm settled in, I will take some pictures if time allows, and upload them this evening. Love to all! Especially my babies. I miss you guys so much already. I've never been away from ya's for this long!

Jun 25, 2011 - Shabbat with friends

Saturday June 25, 2011 Shabbat with friends Peter Falk (Lt. Colombo) passed away today. Signed up for the Israeli Army in ’67 but war was over before he arrived. Shabbat Services at KYR. Wrong directions to Taxi Driver – until we got to Ramot and I told him to go into Ramot B’ he thought we wanted to go to Ramot A’ … whih is closed off to vehicles on Shabbat and a place where we were liable to have stones thrown at the taxi if we attempted to breach the barricades. Later in the afternoon the haredi blocked off a major traffic route into...

Jun 24, 2011 - Mahane Yehuda

Friday June 24 Mahane Yehuda Melon Ron (“Hotel Ron”) at Kikar Zion at the bottom of Ben Yehuda St. – that's the hotel we stayed at when we first visited Jerusalem in 1983-84. It's now the “Jerusalem Hostel”. We kept a diary on that first visit, which was part of our 6 month trip around the world. Yeah, a diary - like the kind you actually write in, you know?. Here's what I had to say about Melon Ron when we first checked in on December 12, 1983: "Well, it had to rain sometime, didn't it? But why today - travel day from Tel Aviv to...

Jun 23, 2011 - Meeting the Giborim

Thursday June 23 Meeting the Giborim Today we met the Giborim (heroes). Debbie & I help provide scholarships for IDF members who can’t otherwise afford to attend Hebrew U. It’s a program that Lenny Shapiro started 2 years ago. Lenny is the backbone of the program; we are teeny cogs in the wheel. Lenny invited us to go with him and his granddaughter Jessica Murphy (who is here accompanying him on this mission and who was on the same March of the Living trip as Lizzy) to visit the students who are the beneficiaries of these scholarships. We...

Jun 22, 2011 - Presidents on Parade - Collect 'em all!

Wednesday June 22 Presidents on parade: Collect ‘em all! Debbie went shopping in Emek Refaim today with Brent & Sora; Hart; and Leslie and Ari. Which brings me to a discussion of all things shekel. The exchange rate for shekels was 3.48 shekels to $1CDN when we arrived but it has gained strength vs. the dollar since we’ve been here and is now approx. 3.40 shekels to the $1CDN. Some interesting shekel facts: 1. The ‘large stone structure’ we saw in the City of David appears on the 5 shekel coin. Politically, it is important to show the...

Jun 21, 2011 - Yad Vashem with Hayzey

Tuesday June 21 Yad Vashem with Hayzey Here's an open invitation that was printed in today's Jerusalem Post: "The Great Celebration" The tzadik has promised that he will pray in heaven for those who come to the celebration in his honor AND MIRACLES AND WONDERS WILL BE SEEN (emphasis added). The celebration will take place, G-d willing, on 17 Sivan 5771 at the holy gravesite of our teacher and Rabbi Shalom Ifergan z'l' led by our teacher The Baba Shalom, may his merit protect us, amen. THERE WILL BE FULL GENDER SEPARATION AT THE EVENT THE...

Jun 20, 2011 - David's City

Monday June 20 David’s City First there were the Jebusites (well, actually, the Canaanites were before them) and then along came David, King of the Jews, and he laid siege to the fortified stone walls of the Jebusite hilltop city and it fell before him. Well, no, it didn’t happen like that, actually. Instead of a siege, David promised a reward to the first of him men who could find a way through the cracks in the walls and cut off the Jebusite city from its water source at the Gihon Spring. And then the walls came a tumblin’ down. Nope –...

Jun 19, 2011 - Behind the scenes at the Kotel

Sunday June 19, 2011 Behind the scenes at the Kotel Well, if the Arabs knew what the Jews were doing behind closed doors at the Kotel, I don’t even want to know what kind of heck would break loose. But that comes this afternoon. This morning Reuven (had to be 82 but was as spry as any 62 yr. old Swede) guided us through the Archaeology and Jewish Art & Life exhibits at the recently renovated Israel Museum. We are in a MUCH larger group of BOGgers now and so the simple logistics of herding the halt & the lame onto and off of the buses...

Jun 18, 2011 - Innocents Abroad

Shabbat – Saturday June 18, 2011 Innocents Abroad Our arrival in Jerusalem ended our relative ‘isolation’ as a group of 20 missionaries. We have been joined by another 35 or so from Canada and a total of about 400 from around the world. This makes for chaos on many, many levels. Mostly involving buses and tour group sizes. Our strategy continues to be based on a simple plan: Walk faster than the halt & the lame (they wobble and tend to fall into you) and avoid buses. That’s relatively easy for us, mind you. The HUH brigade are having...

Jun 18, 2011 - Day 3

1:18 AM, Jerusalem time Shabbat Shalom! It's the Jewish day of rest! We really didn't do a lot of anything today. I didn't get up until 11:30 AM, because lunch wasn't served until 12:00; I slept straight through breakfast. A ride to an orthodox synogogue was offered for those who wished to partake of services, but I wasn't feeling it. I needed an introverted day. After lunch, we walked down the street to do some more Torah reading in the park. An unexpected surprise interrupted it, though: Jewish rock star and recording artist Rick Recht...