Up The Great Mountain, A Day of Rest, A Night of Food

We had one thing on our agenda for our last Friday in Israel...the classic trip to Masada (Click here to learn what Masada is and why so many tourists go there).

This is from David's playing with the panoramic feature.

We rose early and headed south to the Judean Desert. We were delighted to find an indoor parking lot, meaning that our car wouldn’t get crazy hot. While tickets were being purchased, we looked at the scale size model of the mountain and some interesting artwork that was being sold as well. Then we made one of those silly tourist errors and got yelled at for leaving our backpack (filled with water bottles) on the bench. Yup, that’s ours, sorry!

We joined the line for the cable cars, which fit close to twenty people, for the ride to the top of the mountain. In our youth, both David and I had climbed up it, and back down, but we knew we couldn’t do that with the kids or my mom...and they actually closed the path due to heat that day!

We got to the top and found ourselves surrounded by different tour groups. Here and there we piggy-backed upon them, listening briefly to what the tour guide was saying, but we mostly went in the other direction first. (Ok, that was also because the kids needed the bathroom, which was toward the southern area, away from the main fortress area.)

As hot as the day was, we were quite comfortable (perhaps even a touch chilly) when we were on the mountain due to the brisk winds. It made it much more feasible how a group of men, women and children could survive living in the desert conditions. It was particularly windy in the building that once held the mikveh (ritual bath). We then walked the perimeter and spent some time in the covered shade over what was the synagogue. As the main excavations, the fortress on the north head of the mountain, were particularly crowded, we did them very superficially before recognizing that it was best to head back to Jerusalem.

After returning home, we had one more mission to accomplish before Shabbat. We wished to share some of the wonderful, holy challah from Bnei Brak with friends of ours who were visiting their daughter in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem. Nachlaot and Rechavia are side by side, but it was an adventure in itself to follow the GPS directions through the windy streets.

...Shabbat

Our final Shabbat in Israel was much like the previous one, although we felt much more put together having done this once before. We also had a mix of food from Bnei Brak and our favorite French take out place around the corner.

As had occurred the previous week, David, Avi and Elisheva went to the Kotel (Western Wall) for services. They were back surprisingly quickly. Before we began lunch, however, everyone humored me to wait. I walked up the hill to the building I had noticed as being the home to Mayanot. I went in and found the rabbi, Rabbi Shleimy Gestetner. I asked to speak with him and told him that I knew he wouldn’t remember me, but that he and I had known each other when I was at Hebrew University in 1996-97.  He appeared to remember me, but I’m not so sure. I asked after his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, with whom I had been very close (and whom I have since contacted) and after the third member of the group I had known, James Oppenheimer, who, it now turned out, was running a popular restaurant near the Shuk. His place, called Crave, was supposedly a real hot spot, and so, when I told David about it, we decided to go as a post-Shabbat date.

It was a beautiful and relaxing Shabbat.

Our Saturday Night Date started out with the strange experience of entering the Machane Yehuda Shuk when it was closed up and quiet. Slowly, however, as we moved through its tunnel like alleys, different alcoves opened up and began spreading themselves across the lane, creating instant bars and restaurants. We were having trouble finding this supposedly popular eatery, and David suggested a few times that we just pick a place, but I was goal oriented. We finally pulled out Waze, and did a few circles to orient ourselves and then found our way to Crave, which was perhaps technically part of the Shuk, but I would say was more just beyond the Shuk. It was a weird, crowded, and very “happening” restaurant. We found a spot near the door and ordered a fancy Nacho platter to share as we weren’t that hungry. The food is billed as “Upscale Street Food,” and it was very good. I finally found James and reintroduced myself. He said he remembered me, but, again, it was nearly 20 years ago :).