Goooood Morning Jerusalem!!!

Friday June 30
Getting started was a little less speedy then I had hoped. David successfully got Avi up and out for minyan, but when they got back the rest of the household was still in a bit of slow-motion. David very quickly discovered that the Narkiss building in which we were staying was practically attached to a tiny coffee café owned and operated by a cute young family. You can guess where we had breakfast.

Breakfast over, it was time to organize ourselves to head to the shuk to buy our Shabbas needs. First we desperately needed to get money - which was almost funny since, in Israel, Friday is like Sunday and the banks are closed. We went first to Bank Hapoalim and found that there, as in almost all the other places we had gone, our cards were not accepted. We went to the money changer across the street. He didn’t take cards, but sent us to Bank Leumi stating that when people come to him frustrated after Bank Hapoalim, he sends them to Leumi and never sees them again. He was right. Hodu l’Hashem! I had been getting quite anxious about our lack of funds.

Cash in hand, we were ready for the shuk. This was an activity that both David and I had been looking forward to, but our mission was daunted by two aspects. 1) um, we got lost. All the streets here wind around and around and it took us far longer to get there than we had hoped. 2) Having gotten a later start than we had expected, the shuk was incredibly crowded.

Our first stop at the shuk was Marzipan, the famous bakery, followed by a giant candy stall where David spoiled the children. It was crowded, but that’s really part of the experience.

We bought produce and spices and pastries. We stopped for lunch in a tiny stall that sold malawacha. David and Avi shared a malawach toast with chumas and spices, Leah and Yaakov shared a malawach pizza, and Elisheva and I shares shakshukalawach, which was shakshuka on a malawach.  By the time we left the shuk (with several less-than-patient children), it was close to 2 pm, and we didn’t actually have food for Shabbat.

The shuk experience of 2017 was...weird. It felt so much less authentic, although there were still plenty of merchants “hawking” their wares, there were far more “boutique” shops mimicking Shuk stores. Theses included quite a few bars and restaurants (like the melawach place).

On our way back to Narkiss Street, we passed a toy store and purchased some entertainment (a glider bike for Asher, soldiers for Yaakov) to keep the younger kids busy on Shabbat. David and Leah headed to a store David had discovered the night before and they purchased our actual Shabbat seuda.

SHABBAT (Happy Birthday David)

David and Avi had thought to go to the Kotel (Western Wall) for Friday night services, but in the end it proved too complicated. The guys davened locally and met Leah, Yaakov, Asher and myself on the way to a little playground down a windy hill. As we got there, Avi jumped the gate into the park and was rewarded for his enthusiasm with greetings from the four dogs who were already there (only one was of any size). He freaked out, ran this way, then that way as I was shouting “Just stand still,” and David was trying to help him out and the dog owners were trying to calm the dogs. He got out but it was a bit terrifying. David and I explained to him that when dogs see you run they get excited and just stand still.

It had been a wee bit challenging getting ready for Shabbat in a somewhat kosher (there is kosher equipment) kitchen that you haven’t been in for even 24 hours. Nevertheless, we made a lovely little seudah meal. (Okay, the soup was vegetables spiced with the zatar mix that David had purchased at the spice shop and there was no salad or desert, but everyone was very satisfied.)

On Shabbat morning, David, Avi and Elisheva got up super early and headed to the Kotel. I didn’t expect to see them until close to noon, but they actually got back around 10, just as mom and I were leaving the apartment to take the kids to the playground. David and Avi went to the Gra Shul to learn, Shevi went to bed, and we went to the playground. No one wanted lunch THAT early.

Shabbat day was rather long, and the children grew restless. At 7 pm (ok, 7:10, since changing Asher’s bandages took longer than we expected.) We headed, altogether, to the Kotel. The weather was lovely - a nice, gentle breeze - and the walk was really quite pleasant. Even though David had given Avi and Shevi a bit of a tour that morning, we discussed things we were seeing. For David and I, it was a bit weird. There were quite a few bar/bistros open on Shabbat, which either was a more recent development or was just something I had been oblivious to in the past. For me, the whole walk was tinged with memories. As we got to the Rova (the center of the Jewish quarter), we told David and Avi to hurry ahead in order not to miss a minyan for Maariv). This, however, left me with getting the stroller down the many stairs that lead to the Kotel plaza. It took awhile.

How do I discuss being by the Kotel, the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall (if you don’t know about it, read this LINK). Walking down the stairs is breathtaking. I felt as if I had never left and as if I had been away forever. More significantly, it was a very different feeling being there as a mother, with my kids, and hoping that they were feeling a spark and were understanding, on some level, the significance of where we stood.

As a group we found a spot among the women at the Kotel. It was, as it always is, startling and beautiful to see the incredible diversity of the people there. Each of us went up to the Kotel, and said whatever it was we felt appropriate to say. I davened Maariv and we found the men and were ready to head home. Our plan was to grab two taxis, which we accomplished. Mine (with Asher, mom and Yaakov) cost 50 shekels. David’s taxi driver “bargained” him down to 90!

With Shabbat over and the kids heading to bed, David and I took advantage of having my mother with us. We went for a walk to Ben Yehuda St, which happens to be incredibly close to the apartment we rented. David was yearning for a burger; I was not particularly hungry but wanted ice cream. Before heading to eat, we wandered the street like a luxurious stroll down memory lane. Some places never change, and in its essence, Ben Yehuda is like that. It is a “pedestrian mall” that is the ultimate hang-out. It is the essence, in my opinion, of Anglo-Israeli culture. I’m pretty sure I heard far more English than Hebrew being spoken. We rediscovered Timol Shilshon, a charming bookstore café tucked away down seemingly random alley off of an offshoot of Ben Yehuda. It is pretty close to the same, although it has a little bit stronger of a restaurant feel than it used to. Many familiar places were still there, but others had gone or changed. The Underground (a club), which was a landmark for both of us not so much because we had, either of us, hung out there but because we had been here at an age when our peers did, had moved and perhaps died. The large hotel bordering the center square, which David and I both remember having a run down feel with a dark parking lot underneath, was completely renovated and active. (I have my suspicions that removing the Underground was part of the agreement for reinvigorating the hotel.)

On our way to Café Rimon to get David his burger (and me fries...ended up to tired for ice cream!) at Café Rimon, we ran into The Franklins from home. I had known they were coming, but it felt nice to be surprised by a familiar face.