Israel Trip
October 2007

Jerusalem!
The breakfast at the hotel was incredible. Everything you could ever want. After smoked salmon, capers, onions, lemon, fresh bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and espresso we met our guide Zvi in the lobby. A nice man and very knowledgeable, he was born in Boston, moved to Israel in the early 1970s, married a lawyer, and had three children. At our first stop, an overlook from above the city of Jerusalem, Zvi ran through four-thousand years of human history in thirty minutes. He pointed out the Dome of the Rock, after Mecca and Medina, the third holiest place for Muslims. The Southern Steps, where Jesus indisputably walked and threw out the money changers. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was convicted, crucified, and resurrected. The construction of the security wall around Jerusalem to protect from suicide attacks.

The Dome of the Rock or Temple Mount

Inside the Old City, in the Jewish Quarter, we bought fresh warm bread with cumin. We looked at several different layers of geological history. We visited the Armenian quarter and its beautiful rooftop gardens with views all the way across the Dead Sea to Jordan. We discussed many of the disagreements in the Old City and the small solutions that make incremental differences. The positioning of a cross or a flag, who gets to change a light bulb, and who gets to sweep a floor all are issues of immense importance. After all, if I’m the one who maintains it, then I must be the owner.

We walked across the rooftops for a view of the Wailing Wall and the Bar Mitzvah celebrations below. After passing through security and getting Scott a brand new paper Yarmulke to cover his head, we fended off the orthodox beggars for a photo op at the Wailing Wall, the most sacred site in the world for the Jews. After Scott nearly passed out from heat exhaustion (due to 2 bottles of red wine, 2 Ambien, and no sleep) we walked (Scott staggered) the original Southern Steps where Jesus walked. The original gates are sealed while the Muslims illegally excavate the historical site.

Entering the Wailing Wall

Lunch was in the Muslim Quarter at a Turkish restaurant, where for $20, we had one of the best lunches we’ve ever had. We left along the same route Jesus was forced to carry the cross to Calvary. The path is called the Via Dolorosa, “Way of Grief” or “Way of Suffering,” fourteen individual points on the way to His crucifixion. The Church of Holy Sepulchre is divided among the different Christian denominations, of which the Greek Orthodox had by far the most prominent place. Ironically, the Catholics had the least prominent place. We reached into the reputed point where the cross stood and entered the tomb where He was placed. We touched the fissure in the earth where God made Adam.

The Church of Holy Sepulchre

Prayers…

We drove to southern Jerusalem to overlook the West Bank and the construction of the wall around Jerusalem. Security is paramount here and many of the Jewish homes are outfitted with bulletproof glass. As it got dark we watched the vehicles quickly or slowly make their way through security. Unlike the United States, where we’re a terrorist attack or two away from racially profiling, in Israel they are long past that and wave you through quickly if you’re American or Jewish. Palestinians on the other hand, need to plan for potential long delays crossing back and forth through the security wall.

Back at the hotel we showered and walked to a Spanish restaurant for dinner. The tuna tartar was especially good. Our waitress insisted Led Zeppelin was from America and sang “American Woman.”

After another great breakfast and 2 lattes each we headed over to the Mount of Olives in east Jerusalem. The Protestants have an alternative site that offers a different opinion on where Jesus was crucified. While a beautiful garden, the 155 tour buses out front made it difficult to feel any kind of connection with the place.

The Garden of Gesemani has some of the oldest olive trees in the world. It is the place where Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Romans. The Church of United Nations, or “Church of Anguish,” stands nearby. Our guide, Zvi, read from the Gospel of Mark as we overlooked the olive trees and imagined ourselves back in time two thousand years. Inside the church, we were greeted by a hushed silence as people from all over the world paid their respects.

In Jerusalem, spirituality – both good and evil, is continually at the forefront. It permeates your being. The history is all around you. The newspaper headlines from Gaza, the billowing smoke from rocket attacks, the Old City and its four quarters and narrow pathways, a little girl playing with the clip of her father’s M-16 while he sips coffee, the security wall…There is no escaping it.

After a lunch of soda water and cheese and tomato sandwiches we entered the Holocaust Museum. At the Warsaw Ghetto Square we discussed the two sculptures and what they represented. The anguish and hopelessness of the European Jews in the 1930s and 1940s, the establishment against all odds of the state of Israel in 1948, alleged Jewish subservience, and perhaps most powerful, the small boy asking what we are going to do so this never happens again. A question perhaps just as relevant today as it was in 1938. While most of the architecture in Jerusalem is rather nondescript, the museum was astonishing. It meticulously outlined the many obstacles of the Jews as you were led back and forth across the museum on your way to the light at the end of the tunnel that represented Jewish statehood. I especially liked the short films and personal testimony of Holocaust survivors. It was a deeply moving experience, particularly the special tribute to children lost during the Holocaust. In a very large, dark room with lots of mirrors and soft music, three candles burned, but gave you the impression it was thousands and thousands to represent not just the children killed, but the future generations as well.

The small boy asking, “What are you going to do?”

In the evening Zvi walked us through some old Jewish neighborhoods with small, but charming houses and centrally located parks. There were cats everywhere, as in much of Jerusalem. It reminded me of Murakami’s talking cats. We bought 1 kilo (whatever that is) of the best chocolate cake known to man in a nearby market. It was really more like a breakfast pastry and it literally melted in your mouth. I wish I could have brought some home.

The best chocolate “cake” in the world!

Dinner was at Olive’s, the local steak house. We had some Israeli Pinot Noir from the Golan Heights and a memorable asparagus appetizer.

We left the hotel at 8am for the two hour trip to Masada. We traveled through the West Bank, past the Bedouin camps, past where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and along the Dead Sea to the lowest place on earth, 1200 feet below sea level. Masada is majestic. It rises out of the desert as an enormous presence overlooking the Dead Sea. Once at the top (we took the tram, but if you arrive early enough it is possible to hike as well), there is plenty of space, lush gardens, a small vineyard, a synagogue, and lots of water thanks to the ingenious collection and storage systems. It is also virtually impenetrable. After eight months of siege and hard work on a ramp, ten thousand Roman soldiers were able to breach the gates and find 960 dead Jews. As legend has it, the Jews committed suicide rather than be taken alive as Roman slaves. You can still see the ramp and rock outlines of the Roman camps below.

The Dead Sea as seen from Masada

There is a canyon that runs along the side of Masada. We yelled into the canyon in Hebrew, “Masada will never fall again.” I have never heard such an echo in my life!

Nearby Masada we had a quick lunch and hiked to some mountain springs for a swim. Along the way we saw several Ibex, an animal similar to the antelope, but with large, curved horns.

You’d never know it was the desert…

A bath in the Dead Sea

I think it is difficult to imagine floating in the Dead Sea unless you’ve experienced it. It is really quite incredible to float in water as if you were completely weightless. Especially while watching Israeli F-16s flying very low overhead at twice the speed of sound. We became unrecognizable as we caked ourselves in the dark, salubrious mud. Afterwards, relaxed in the shade, we sipped our beers while overlooking the Dead Sea.

We had dinner that night with a cat that loved shrimp at the local wine bar.

Thursday we drove with Mike, our Jewish Canadian guide, to the Golan Heights. During the drive Mike filled us in on post-independence Israeli history. We found his knowledge and insights very interesting, particularly the insights on the 1967 Six Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Israelis are not especially big fans of the United Nations.

We visited Beth Shean, an excavated Roman city on the way to the Jordan River where first Jesus, and now Scott, were baptized. In Scott’s instance: in a ghost outfit, by a Russian-speaking priest with a long white beard, surrounded by Brazilians and large catfish. The Jordan River was beautiful, but much smaller than I expected. We left the Jordan and drove to the Golan Heights and the former Syrian Army positions, now owned and controlled by Israel. Many of the bunkers, underground tunnels, and gun positions are still there. Standing there, overlooking Syria and Lebanon off in the distance to the north, you can understand why Israel does not want to return the Golan Heights to Syria.

Beth Shean, former Roman city

Towards evening, we met our Land Rover guide, Roy, who drove us around the Golan Heights on some crazy, barely passable roads. We saw lots of wild pigs, antelope, quail, and falcons and then had lemongrass tea and cookies overlooking the farmland as the sun set.

Former Syrian positions, Golan Heights

Looking out over Syria through a bunker in the Golan Heights

The next morning we visited a nature reserve near the Lebanon border. In some places the ground was still scorched from Hezbollah’s Katyusha rockets. Nearby, we visited the hilltop where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. It overlooks the Sea of Galilee and is a kind of natural amphitheatre. Today, there is a church built on the site. A simple, modest church with eight sides, each side with one of the Beatitudes inscribed at the top. This was a special place for me; somehow it felt different…

The Church of the Beatitudes

Saturday is Shabbat, the day of rest for the Jews and there is not a lot open here. The streets are empty and you can’t even buy a newspaper. You even have to watch what elevator you take. We were able to visit the Israeli Museum, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are located. In the afternoon, we drank Turkish coffee and relaxed by the pool.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Israeli Museum

Early Sunday we took a taxi to the airport for our flight to Eilat. Getting through security was a nightmare. I don’t recommend traveling alone (as we did into and out of Israel), having Sudanese and Jordanian stamps in your passport, and not checking any luggage. You are asking to be subject to a one-hour interrogation, having your belongings inspected piece by piece again and again by multiple guards, and finally, strip-searched! We did eventually make it to Jordan where our guide met us at the border. The difference between Israel and Jordan is apparent right away. Jordan is a big desert with a road cut through it – a road full of maniacal truck drivers. On the way to Petra we stopped at the Seven Pillars of Wisdom and the valley where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. The desert here reminded me of Monument Valley in Utah.

Somewhere in Jordan

Somewhere else in Jordan

Finally in Petra after a couple of “shortcuts” we were told, but really to hand off cloth covered items in busy marketplaces to men who don’t speak and don’t look at you, we had a beer overlooking the rock formations. I was a little tired of Jordan already by this point, but did look forward to Petra in the morning.

The Five Pillars of Wisdom

Inside the tombs in Petra

Outside the Tombs in Petra

Theatre in Petra

A capitalist in Jordan

Petra, Greek for “City of Rock”

After Petra we traveled back to Eilat and flew to Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is the business and technology capital of Israel and it overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. We walked up and down its beautiful beaches for several miles. That night, our last night of a great trip, we went to a Sushi bar near the hotel with an Israeli supermodel as a hostess.