Jerusalem Tiyul

Inside the Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem



We've just come back from two weeks at the Hartman Institute, a marvelous Orthodox institution that hosts a rabbinical seminar every year for rabbis from outside Israel. They are strong believers in Jewish pluralism and the rabbis come mostly from the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist streams of American Judaism. The theme of the studies this year was Jewish Responses to Crisis as shown in Biblical, Talmudic and other texts. It was certainly a timely subject; the economic situation has very strongly affected Jewish institutions because they depend largely on donations for their income. Discussions ranged from the religious to the political to the personal. We both enjoyed it very much.

And there are many things to write about, and I will try to cover some of them. Not today, though. Today I am just going to post some nice pictures from our tiyul (tour) that we took of the northern wall of the old city. We walked along the ramparts from the Jaffa Gate to the Damascus Gate and then were treated to a visit to the Rockefeller Archeological Museum which houses an amazing collection of artifacts found here. So here are some pictures with explanations:

The first of these two pictures is our group walking along the ramparts of the wall of the Old City between the Jaffa Gate and the Damascus Gate. The second is a picture of our shadows on the wall of Tzedkiyahu's Cave.



We went into the tower of the Damascus Gate all the way to the bottom of the tower. The stones you see were brought in by the Romans. Each of them weighs more than 2 tons. The quarry was at a level higher, so apparently they rolled the stones in on logs from the quarry to where they were building. The engineering feats are astounding!



The next is a picture of Al Aksaa, the mosque on the hill overlooking the Western Wall. This is holy territory to Islam and it is under the control of the Waqf, the Palestinian Authority. This is a nice view over the roofs of the old city...




The next three pictures were taken in the old city. The first in the Jewish Quarter -- these hats and coats were hanging outside a Beit Midrash and the men inside were studying.



These two pictures were taken in the Arab Quarter, where there are streets and streets of small shops crammed with things to sell. Very colorful. Bargaining is expected and required. In spite of the fact that I taught negotiation for years, I've never been good at this kind of bargaining so I rarely buy anything. But it is a visual feast!






Warm wishes for a shabbat shalom,
Pat