jerusalem

my trip to jerusalem brought me face-to-face with a lot of questions: questions of faith, of diversity, of coexistence. it is truly a fascinating and unique city in the strength with which multiple religious traditions are coabiding and sharing reverence for the same land. within the walls of the old city especially, i could sit and watch for hours the intermix of orthodox jews in their traditional black hats, veiled muslim women, camera-wielding tourists, and all those in between. the old city on a map is divided into four "quarters": muslim, jewish, christian, and armenian, but this made me wonder how this plays out in practicality- how hard-drawn are the lines, do you only buy from or interact with people of your quarter/faith, are there lines at all or is it just neighbors among neighbors no matter which quarter your house is in or what sort of clothes you wear or what language you're speaking, is there resentment between certain groups of neighbors, is politics discussed or avoided, etc.? so many big questions, and only three days being there means they're all still unanswered haha. i wish i'd had the opportunity to talk with more people there, and i think that would make for a fascinating research project. what i saw in my brief stay was a middle ground: i certainly witnessed friendly conversations between jews and muslims, but more common were the conversations between those of the same faith, so it's hard to tell what the overall situation is. one thing is sure, it is easier to draw the quarter lines on paper than in reality- the old city generally looks the same no matter which quarter you're in, and it would be difficult to divide it- but that would be difficult in any city, it's not what they're made for. borders are just lines drawn in the sand, and they're arbitrary compared to the disproportionate amount of emphasis the international political system places on them.
one thing i loved about jerusalem was that multiple languages are always present. signs are in all three of hebrew, arabic, and english, and most residents speak at minimum two of these. also, i have realized at long last what my hours upon hours of arabic studying were for: a souq merchant immediately cut the quoted scarf price in half for me because i addressed him in arabic :) just kiddinggg (but it is a definite perk haha).


jerusalem is in fact a highly complicated tourist assignment on a weekend, since what with muslim friday, jewish shabbat, and christian sunday there is no such thing as standard operating hours/days. my first day i ventured out into the new city to mahane yehuda market, site of all things delicious (and also some not so delicious such as the full size shark for sale by one butcher shop, yikes). i snacked on lots of fresh fruit and some mini chocolate croissants that seemed to be the treat of choice to bring home for shabbat dinner since all the bakeries were rolling out HUGE trays of them.




on my way back towards the old city i took a stroll through mea she'arim, a very orthodox jewish neighborhood. it was like stepping into an old-world town: the whole community preserves traditional customs of dress and appearance. for men and boys this means black pants and jacket with white button-down shirt, a borsalino black hat, gartels (cloth prayer belts), and most with long beards and payot, which are the long curled sideburns. women and girls all had long hair simply tied back in a braid or ponytail, and wore long-sleeved dresses or skirts with tights. walking around here i heard a lot more of "shabbat shalom" than in the old city.



later that day i followed a massive group of tourists along the via dolorosa, which is the street route along which jesus carried his cross. i think i would have taken this way more seriously if i was christian, but even as it is it was interesting to see the significance the walk held for so many others, and to actually be on the sites of SO many biblical events. the walk ended at the church of the holy sepulchre, which is an immense, echoing, stone church that is majestic in an unassuming way, built on the location of golgotha or calvary, where many christians believe jesus was crucified/buried/resurrected.





later on i stumbled upon the simple but beautiful st. anne's church, known for its heavenly acoustics. the church is open to anyone or any group who feels so moved to sing songs of worship, and i sat a while listening to the voices echo off the church's crusader-era arches.


that night i watched the sunset from the roof of my hostel, and the great view made the slightly steep price per night more than worth it. the next morning i climbed the spiral stairs to the tower of the lutheran church and was treated to some more spectacular city views, this time in the morning sun.




i then headed off for a half-day visit to bethlehem (for more on the west bank see post below). modern day bethlehem is not the rural manger town that our christmas carols might lead you to believe- it's an everyday west bank village that happens to get a lot of tourists passing through. its main attraction is the church of the nativity, built over the site where jesus was born.



coming back into jerusalem i stopped for a lunch of fresh carrot juice and a falafel sandwich, two things that are cheap and ever-present in the middle east that i will definitely miss when i'm back home. my lunch was so delicious that i took a picture of it, not knowing that it would later be photographic evidence of the falafel that gave me the worst bout of food poisoning EVER :(


that afternoon i walked through kidron valley then up the mount of olives. the silvery sea green of the ancient olive trees made for some beautiful gardens, and small churches dotted the hillside as i took in the view of the old city across the valley. it was also interesting to see the separate but side-by-side cemeteries for christians, muslims, and jews, as well as mary's tomb at the base of the hill.






my planned adventures the next day had to be downsized due to my still feeling close to death from the falafel incident, but i was not leaving jerusalem without going to the temple mount even if it killed me. thus, avoiding the idea of food/breakfast, i packed and set off in the 90+ degree heat to visit the western/wailing wall, and then the temple mount with al-aqsa mosque and the dome of the rock. the sign below at the entrance to the western wall cracked me up- obviously it would be awkward if it violated shabbat for jews to go to the wall, so the rabbis declared that metal detectors were not in violation of shabbat :)