Bar Mitzvahs (top) and Prayers (bottom) at the Wailing Wall
By Victoria Looseleaf
Café culture thrives in this city of nearly 700,000, and not the Starbucks’ variety – the chain never caught fire here, with Israelis preferring their own brew. Indeed, chatter among locals these days runs the gamut: From the political (everyone seems to have an opinion of Obama), and the celebrity-obsessed (Michael Jackson coverage is still found in both Hebrew and English-language papers), to the arts (The Jerusalem Film Festival recently wrapped up its 26th edition, having screened 150 films from 40 countries over 10 days).
But let’s face it: Most people don’t trek to Jerusalem for flicks or bagels (the deli staple is not indigenous); they come to walk through history, myself included. Passing through a metal detector before entering the Wailing Wall, the surviving remnant of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., I’m greeted by the sounds of bleating shofars (rams’ horns), and the sight of hundreds of balloons being released.
As it happens, Mondays and Thursdays are bar mitzvah days, the religious ritual in which 13-year old boys become men, making this holy spot something akin to Grand Central Station. Nevertheless, I maneuver through the throngs to place my hand-scribbled prayers into the ancient stone wall, which has, in a manner of speaking, gone high tech: Prayers can now be tweeted and emailed, with a yeshiva student putting the printed messages into the wall’s cracks.
Who knew?
Seeking respite from the fierce desert heat, my wonderful veteran guide, Tsion Ben-David (courtesy of Uri Taub and the fabulous Israel Ministry of Tourism), and dear friend and Haifa host, Ora Brafman, all tour the tunnel (reservations must be made months in advance). An underpass discovered in the ‘70’s that follows the base of the Temple wall along a Herodian street that ends at the famed Via Dolorosa, this jaunt was staggering, both archaeologically and historically. Some 40 minutes later, we emerge to trace the last steps Christ allegedly took before being crucified. Known as the 14 Stations of the Cross, the area ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christ is said to have been buried, and where I insanely asked our guide, ‘How did Christ get up these steps carrying a cross after he had fallen more than once?’ Duh: “There were no steps, Victoria, it was a hill of dirt,” saith the sage Tsion.
Afterwards, following tourists and pilgrims alike, we find cold drinks and falafels at one of the many small stalls and shops that line the Via Dolorosa. This crazy-quilt bazaar-like area gives one pause to ponder the significance – religious and otherwise – of this remarkable city. Finishing the day, we breeze through the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, before making our way to the overwhelmingly sad, albeit powerful Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem.
And let’s not forget the hip factor that also marks Israel: Leonard Cohen will soon be strutting his stuff here, while the pop queen herself plans on making a Middle Eastern pilgrimage of sorts, as well. Yes, Madonna is not only scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv in September, but will, no doubt, be dropping into the Kabbalah Center, where those red string bracelets are sure to fly off the shelves.