This week

Shalom all!
Right now I'm sitting at Cafe Hillel (on Hillel street!) using their WIFI and shady outdoor tables. The weather is gorgeous in the shade.
The last few days have been awesome!  I'm going to start with last Thursday.
On Thursday (it was HOT) and I decided to walk to the Kotel (the wailing wall.)
I took over a few notes that people gave me and I brought my camera.

 This is the Armenian quarter near the Jaffa Gate. There were three chandeliers hanging in this tunnel. It was cool!

 A view I found accidentially of Jerusalem outside of the old city.

 Overlook into the Western Wall plaza

 Women's section of the Kotel

 Katie-- your note is the center one, folded twice!

 Woman with a tallit on, not during women of the wall but just a regular day.

 Thursday at the wall-- very few pray-ers at 2pm!

 Sign for my school!

On Friday, a group of us went to Tel Aviv for the day and for Shabbat. I forogt to take pictures of the beach, but I did take a few pictures of the place where we went to Shabbat Services. We went to Beit Tefilah Israeli, a congregation that holds its Kabbalat Shabbat service on the Tel Aviv port. Tel Aviv is a beautiful city and the meddierranian is an incredible body of water. However, Tel Aviv, while fun and modern, lacks the magic of JErusalem. In my opinion, Jerusalem offers an extrodinary element to the modernity of the times-- it's almost like frozen history thrown into the modern day. I love that so much!

 Spotted in Tel Aviv. Thanks for the head's up about your hair salon, Dad.

The following four pictures are from Beit Tefilah Israeli on the port!

 

On Saturday morning, I woke up with a billion bug bites. I am covered in what I thought was bed bugs but it turns out are mosquito bites (UGH) I went to services anyway because I was awake and itchy. I am SO glad I went because I ran into Sara Stock Mayo's sister Rachel at services at HUC! (Sara is the Cantor at Temple Sinai where I worked the last two years. I met Rachel a few times and we spent a lot of time together during Sara's son's Bar Mitzvah last month.) 

She invited me to go on  a walking tour with her Temple from St. Paul. It was UNBEARABLY hot on Saturday, but it was Shabbat and I didn't have plans. I am SO grateful she invited me along, because I learned so much! From the beginning at 1pm until I left the group at 5:40, I was soaking in so much. We went to The Church of the Holy Sepulcher which was completely incredible. I was overwhelmed with the beauty of this place combined with the history. There are various church groups who "own" parts of the building. The Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Egyptian Coptic, Ethiopian Coptic, Armenian Orthodox ( I think I listed them all.) They struggle just like the other religions in Jerusalem for control and to establish themselves as a part of the church and community.  It was really interesting and beautiful.

A view from a rooftop in the Old City. 

We also went as a group through all four quarters of the Old City. Tzvi (the tour guide) seemed to know everyone and know exactly how to take us to the best spots.   We got REALLY close to the  Dome of the Rock, which was breath taking. He took us all over including to the top of the Austrian Hospice which was the best view of Jerusalem I've ever seen. 

Austrian Hospice

Austrian Hospice 

Austrian Hospice 

Me and Rachel on the top of the Hospice! IT was SO great to hang out with her!

 

It was a long day, but I learned so much and I can't wait to immerse myself in the culture of Jerusalem even more! 

In the Arab Quarter, we saw many doors decorated like this. This means, according to Tzvi, that these people have made a hajj to Mecca. People write the dates they went and how many times. It's really cool!

We also went to a small section of the Wall that is closer to where the Holy of Holies used to be. It was really a moment because as we were there together, Rabbi Spilker (Rachel's husband) led us in the Sh'ma. As we sang the prayer, the muezzin came on over the speakers (from the Dome of the Rock) and started afternoon prayers. Our prayers were in harmony with those of our Muslim brothers and sisters. I was close to tears (surprise) because of how beautiful this contrast was and how much I felt the need for peace at that moment. I want to wish all those observing a Ramadan Kareen. My prayer is that everyone has a chance to get spiritually filled up during this month.

Then on Sunday morning at 6:15am, my classmates and I went to the Kotel or the Rosh Chodesh (New Month) prayers with the Women of the Wall. If you don't know much about the WoW, here is a link to their website. They are an incredible group of women, fighting for egalitarianism in this holy prayer space. Women wear tallitot, wrap t'fillin and pray out loud! IT was SUCH a privledge to be able to pray with the women who live here and fight for the ability of all Jews to pray in the way they see fit. It was SO cool. (Also, a lady protested us by blowing a loud whistle when we started-- you can see the video on the WoW website. She was escorted out of the plaza by the police who was the same guy who arrested Anat Hoffman many times for praying out loud and wearing a Tallit. The enemy has become the friend.)

These are all pictures of me and of my classmates praying with the WoW. I can't WAIT until we get to wake up at 5:30am and do this again next month! Maybe, please God, we will have a real, actual Torah from which to read. 

Today, I went to the central bus station and got a RavKav (a bus/ train pass), making me a true Jerusalemite!

My bug bites are less itchy (thank you Benadryl!) and I am still in search of a fan/ shelves for my room. We will see how this all plays out!