Ok - so for the Day 4 entry we have a guest blogger. I turn the laptop over to Devorah and take no responsibility for anything that follows...
we are off to the Old City but first we have to find parking and u dont want to get lost cuz its not exactly surrounded by friendly neighbors. Thought the most important part of the Old City is the Kotel but apparently i was wrong. First we walked down the hill to Ir David (archeological dig) it was Jerusalem's main part before Other Nations took over and covered it and built on top of it. Now they are excavating and finding cool stuff like old toilets and pottery and I wasnt really paying so close attention becuz Leah was crying about how she wanted Apple Jucie not water. so i left in the middle of the speech to get her a bottle of AJ and then she cried that she wanted AJ AND Grape Juice (dont ask = i think she needed more sleep and was bored from the history lesson) suffice to say, we went thru a lot of caverns and tunnels, up and down a lot of stairs and walked up the entire Temple Mount. I told Yaakov it was like Shalosh Regalim. we saw what they think is the actual road and steps the Jews took Years Ago to get to the Temple to bring Karban Pesach..
we actually got to talk to an archeologist (Ishmael) and he showed us the behind the scenes what they were doing and some old coins they found.
At the Kotel (when we finally made it up there) there was a major celebration of Bar and Bat Mitzvahs sponsored by Chabad of course. We saw Sephardic families with a bongo band and a shofar blower (we think the bongo band wasnt wearing any underwear under their white linen outfits but can always hope we are wrong)
There were the girls with pretty pink and purple striped Talis-es. It was pretty awesome. we also saw a Henna party. THAT was cool. and a guy riding a bicycle with his baby in a milk crate strapped to the back. THAT was ----
we davened at the Kotel for mincha. Awesome. then we toured under the kotel walls, we learned all about the history of Jerusalem and the destruction of both Temples. it was all interesting but kinda long-winded. The kids enjoyed learning the ancient Alephbet and writing their names. we walked around the shops. (we even walked thru the Arab Shuk - really quickly) we climbed to the top of the buildings to see the view of the Jewish Quarter and it was amazing.
there is a lot of our history and it is interesting but i have to admit i was on overload at that point so we went to visit our friends the Ashmans then grabbed some Shwarma and headed back to our apartment.
Later, Rachi and I went to the Jacobson's daughter's bat mitzvah and got to see some former Baltimorons: Howie and Dvora Klein, Elliot and Eileen Cahan, the Blass', the Krasna's - she of "berger building" fame.
that's all. its weird being back here. there are tunnels where there used to be none and new highways and the Plaza by the Kotel is half its size because the back half is now an archeological dig. there is no longer the arch on the Chorva Shul and there is a new set of stairs going up to the Jewish Quarter.
We are glad we finally made it to the Kotel and the kids got to taste Shwarma for the first time. and now back to you Rachi.................
Pics for Day 4:
Posted by ravomess at April 1, 2007 04:28 PM | TrackBackLooks and sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Sorry to miss seeing you here in Baltimore. Chag Sameach!
Posted by: Sara K at April 1, 2007 06:04 PM