The Other Jerusalems                                                                   April 16, 2000

Although Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, all the foreign embassies are in Tel Aviv.  The reason is the dispute about the "liberation" (or confiscation, depending on your point of view) of the Arab part of the Old City.  In Jerusalem, more so that elsewhere in Israel, it’s evident you’re in a Jewish state.  New Jerusalem is home to many orthodox Jews, so the vast majority of restaurants are kosher, serving either meat or dairy dishes, but not both.  This is a city where you can even get a kosher Burger King or Big Mac.  

In the City, as in the rest of Israel, there are uniformed soldiers everywhere (many carrying rifles), and yet Jerusalem felt safe and, on a warm night, even relaxing.  We had our dinners downtown in outdoor restaurants or cafes, watching families and young people bustling or strolling by.  The streets of Jerusalem are narrow, and traffic is hectic.  It's also noisy -- Israelis, it seems, love to honk their horns.  It doesn’t help that so many drivers are endowed with chutzpa – our huge tour bus was making U-turns in streets where Dick wouldn’t even consider turning a small car. 

Aside from us tourists, Old and New Jerusalem are populated with locals dressed in unique garb.  These include orthodox Jews in their kippas (yarmulkes) and ultra-orthodox Jews in their long black coats and large, black, felt hats.  Also Muslims, some of the men and most of the women wearing traditional head coverings.  And Christian priests, monks and nuns, some dressed in the traditional religious garb of their sect (Greek Orthodox, Catholic or Armenian).

The City has numerous museums and monuments to visit.  We only had time to see these.

• David's Tower, the museum of Jerusalem history.  This reconstructed old fortress is currently featuring a glass exhibit by world renown glassblower, Dale Chihuly.  Here a variety of unusual glass sculptures were set into or flanked by the ancient stones of the museum's courtyard.  I didn't think this juxtaposition worked, though he's received all sorts of kudos.  I thought that, rather than enhancing each other, the rocks and glass seemed to clash.  Then again, perhaps it was intended as a reminder of all the many clashes that have occurred in Jerusalem?  One never knows with art.
  
• The Holocaust museum, Yad Va-Shem, was built with the intension of "forever remembering".  The Children’s Memorial was haunting – a tribute to the 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust, including my mother’s little sister Franya.  As one walks through a dark, mirrored hall filled with row after row of memorial candles, the names of those lost are slowly read out.  Yad Va-Shem also honors those gentiles who endangered their lives to save Jews from the Nazis, such as the now-famous Herr Schindler. 
  
• The Israel Museum and the Shrine of the Book, housing the Dead Sea Scrolls.  These scrolls show how amazingly little the Old Testament text has changed in 2000 years. 
  
• Mount Herzl, with its monuments to the Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl and to departed Israel’s leaders, including the slain Yitzhak Rabin.
  
• Bethlehem (now part of Arab Palestine) is about 4 miles away.  This is the place where Jesus was born, and several Christian Churches are built on the site. 

Politics and opinions are a mainstay of Israeli life.  This nation’s  population is diverse.  It now comprises almost 20% recent Russian immigrants, about 20% Arabs; the remainder are Israeli Jews.  Our guide said each of the 120 members of Parliament have at least 4 opinions on everything, making for a Knesset equal to 500 people!  It’s also been said that, if the Arabs would just keep a low profile, the Israeli nation (without an enemy to unite them) would quickly fall into disarray.  Indeed, in 1995 a Jewish religious fanatic murdered Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin – who was viewed by some Israelis as the enemy within.

We were fortunate to catch up with my friend Miriam and her husband Doron.  A former chemistry buddy,  she’s now the Chief Scientist and Sr. Director General of the Environmental Ministry   (She was on TV while we were in town!)  Back when we were at Brandeis together, Miriam was married to Bibi Netanyahu, Israel’s recent Prime Minister.  She and her family live in a world of politics, where wars, peace agreements, political promises, and government appointments and firings are all part of everyday life.  Actually, for most Israelis politics is a part of everyday life and, for a few, the cause of death.  It's an unfortunate reality that Israel still has many extremely complex and difficult issues needing resolution.

The Israeli word for hello and good-bye is Shalom; it means peace.  And one must continue to hope and pray that peace will soon settle in Israel.

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