November 1, 2013
Breakfasts in Israeli hotels are known for their hugeness,
and the Prima King’s breakfast was no exception. More choices than on a cruise
ship – cheeses, fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables – it just went on and on.
The group met in the lobby at 8:30 – we were now a complete
group, as the remaining 4 members joined us.
The morning was devoted to remembering – first at Yad VaShem
(Israel’s holocaust memorial), then to the Hertzel memorial.
Suffice it to say that I do not do holocaust museums or
memorials. But, I was fine with wandering the museum grounds and meeting up
with the group when they were done. But first, I needed a map, so I could
navigate the grounds and make my way to the meeting spot.
Except that the map cost 10 NIS (New Israeli Shekels). And I
had a 50 NIS note. But the guy behind the counter said he’d just opened and had
no change (you open a cashier with no change?). Back to Andy I go to see if he
has some change. Which he did, but the cashier tells me that some of the coins
are ancient and worthless (yeah, some of the coins were from our first trip to
Israel in 1981). So back to Andy I go. He digs up more coins, and our tour
guide goes through them to find the good ones. So back to the cashier I go and
now I have my map.
I am to meet the group in 2 hours in a plaza at the exit of
the museum.
I wandered around the grounds for over an hour. Lots of
steps!
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| The Garden of the Righteous Among The Nations (Yad VaShem) |
I found the meeting spot, found a seat in the shade – and
just hung out in the spectacularly beautiful day: 75 degrees, zero humidity,
sunny skies.
The next stop was the Herzl memorial – Theodore Herzl, the
“father” of modern Zionism. The memorial park is actually a cemetery for
Israel’s presidents and prime ministers. We visited the graves of Yitzhak
Rabin, Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir.
Since it was Friday, the touring part of the day ended
early. The van dropped us off at Machaneh Yehudah – a big crazy market, where
Jerusalemites go shopping in preparation for Shabbat. “Mobbed”, “packed”,
“jammed” – none of these words describe that madhouse of a market. Shop keepers
squawking about their wares – they blended into a cacophony that you just had
to tune out to save your mind. We managed to pop out on the other side without
finding a café where we could have lunch.
The market had two streets – we walked back along the second
street, which was a lot less crazy, had cafes (more felafel) and street
performers! Not something we expected to see in Jerusalem.
We walked back to the hotel – glad we had bought a data
package for our phones, so we could turn on the GPS long enough to find out
where we were and how to find our way.
It was arranged for us to attend Friday night services and
then have Shabbat dinner at the Fuchsberg Center for Conservative Judaism
across the street.
The Friday night service was very much like home - it was hard to remember that we were in Israel.
But you know how disorienting it is when you see people you know in a context different from where you usually see them? After the service, two people came up to us - they obviously knew us and they were decidedly familiar looking....and then we realized it was Eddie and Jocelyn, Andy's brother-in-law's brother and his wife (did you follow that?). Turns out they've been living in Jerusalem for months!. It was great to see them!
Dinner at the Fuchsberg Center was excellent - it was the first time the whole group was together at a meal. We got to know each other a little bit and stuff ourselves.
Tomorrow: Shabbat in Jerusalem
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