Hanukah in Jerusalem

On December 2, my whole family went on a trip to Jerusalem.

Abu Shukri
Abu Shukri is the best humus place in Jerusalem! Even just walking in, you can sense that this is the place you want to have lunch. And when you take that first bite of pita bread, it is so filling that you couldn't take another bite (but of course you do!). What I find very funny is all the Israelis go there, yet no Arabs (it's run by an Arab family and is in the outdoor Arab flea market!). It wins Israeli awards for the best humus. And what's even funnier is the person who we met in there happens to be the director of Reform Judaism in Israel. Now you may say to yourself "Whooppee, Caleb found the director of the most common form of Judaism." Well, no - the most common form of Judaism in Israel is either secular (not religious) or Orthodox. The Reform and Conservative movements are very small here and not recognized by the Rabbinate to perform weddings, funerals, bar and bat mitzvahs, etc. So it was good to meet someone who's Reform, because they are doing great work to make more Israelis become familiar with non-Orthodox ways of celebrating Judaism.

The City of David
After we finished eating, we went to the City of David. We saw a 3D movie about what David did 3,000 years ago to create the first Jewish kingdom in Jerusalem. It was 3D, but when you saw a bee or a fly, when it came at you in the movie, no strong wisp of air would come out. We went around the bend to see the archeological site still being dug where David's palace was. We went to sit down and looked over an excavated site of an old house next to the palace. The house had a toilet bowl which indicated that the family was very rich. The Talmud asks what is a rich man, and one answer is a man who has a toilet in his home! A contract seal was found there indicating that it belonged to a family whose names are actually mentioned in the Bible. It's cool that the Bible stories are actually real people who lived so long ago!

At the 2,000 (or 3,000?) year old City of David, outside the walls of Jerusalem's 500 year old "Old City."

We then went to a cave where the ancient people built a water tunnel to bring spring water to the city in case of siege. There was a natural long shaft down that connected to the water tunel that led to the city. David built the tunnel so that in times of war, they could get water without leaving the city. The people who dug the tunnel made the work harder for themselves because they had to make their own shaft down to the water; what's even sadder is the shaft they dug was just 1 yard to the right of the natural shaft - if they had known, they could have stopped their digging right there! We hiked through the dark tunnel through the water tunnel which was pitch black and still had water running up to our waist. My brother was on my dad's back the whole time and hated it because he was a little afraid. We had flashlights and walked for 30 minutes. There were 2 ultra-Orthodox guys who were adventurous enough to go through the water tunnel with us, but asked the Guide to hold their hats made from rabbit fur.  She put it on her head, and asked "I thought rabbit is not kosher?" and the guy said, "So, we don't eat it, just wear it!"

Our (secular) tour guide Aiyala wore the Haredi rabbit hat while the man went through the water tunnel.

We got lost in a different tunnel and wound up outside by where the archeological dig is still going on today and where the Arabs who live nearby don't like it. We had to retrace our steps back to where the Guide would meet us. Finally, we went to another excavated area of an old street where every stone block or two of steps was tilted up and broken. Why? Because when the Romans conquered the city of Jerusalem from the Jews, some Jews tried to hide under the streets in the sewers to save themselves. The Roman general ordered the Roman soldiers to systematically find every last Jew so they broke open all the streets till they found all the Jews and killed them.

Just finished wading through the waters in the dark in Hezekiah's Tunnel!

It was interesting to think that today Jerusalem is once again a Jewish city, and that the last time it was Jewish was 2,000 years ago when the Hasmonean kingdom of the Maccabees retook the city in the Hanukah story. For 2,000 years Jews did not control the city, but the Guide said we were very lucky to live in our times after 2,000 years.

Kotel (Western Wall) and Shuk
On a happier note, we made our way at dusk to the Kotel once again. It was Ben's first and only time visiting. Because it was Hanukah, the Kotel had a huge menorah there. We also took notes from our friends the Morrels to put in the cracks of the walls.

When we were walking back, we saw an old rabbi with a long white beard with 2 canes. And we saw this cute little old couple below: the man was wearing one of the little paper flags on a toothpick that you stick in your cocktail drink... on his head!

Look closely what's on his head!

Then we went to the Arab outdoor flea market (shuk). There we bought a kiddush cup set where you have a main cup that sits on top and you pore wine in a little hole that goes out the hole in different spots to 6 different smaller cups. I find it very cool, and have been wanting one for a while.

This is my new kiddush set: we used it for the next Shabbat dinner!

My mom got a couple of Armenian ceramic bowls that she wants to put salt in to dip challah in salt on Shabbat. Again, the shop keepers were very aggressive and I definitely don't like that. All the while we were pushing the stroller which was really hard because we were going uphill on stairs. It was still really hard even though Ben wasn't in it. We had dinner at Aroma cafe overlooking the King David Hotel right outside Jaffa Gate. In the parking garage, there was a random stray wolf - OMG my parents freaked out and hurried us into the car! By the time we got home, we were so tired, so we changed into our pajamas with our eyes closed and TOTALLY crashed! Well, good night!