This new apartment building takes its cues from the Bauhaus style of early 20th century Tel Aviv. The only new construction we saw seemed to be close to the beach.
For all the Northern California surfers bet you didn’t know that you can surf at the beach in Tel Aviv though the undertow is pretty intense (about two blocks from where I took this photo)
This graffiti says “if you don’t want you don’t have to”. Read it any way you want.
Looks like Banksy has been here.
If you can’t read this it says basically that “art speaks for those who can’t and we choose our words well….”
On the walking tour of Bauhaus and International style buildings.
This is one of building that has been renovated. Tel Aviv is a World Heritage Site because of this architecture but of course there is no money for renovating. By allowing two additional stories to be added, it made it worthwhile for the owner to rehab the building.
Originally designed for workers quarters.
The building has an interior garden that is communal space.
The stairwell looks like a thermometer.
Rounded balconies came first with the Bauhaus style in the 1930s but you can find that on many Tel Aviv buildings.
Balconies designed to bring people “out into the world” instead of keeping them inside hidden away.
Many features come together in this building which had been a girls’ school, now apartments and a cafe on the ground floor.
Slits in the balconies designed to bring cool air into the interior. Modeled after Le Courbusier’s ribbon windows.
Flat roofs for spending time outdoors and overhangs over the balcony to provide shade.
An assortment of graffiti on the side of one of the Bauhaus buildings which for the most part seem quite rundown.
Notice the half rounds of the balconies, there are porthole windows over the front door (you might not see them), and a kind of stucco that includes small pebbles.
I think this graffiti is advocating for vegetarianism.
Buddhism or Hinduism?
A Banksy follower.
Our last day in Tel Aviv, we took a Bauhaus architectural walking tour. I’ve included a sampling of the large amount of graffiti as well that we found quite interesting. At the turn of the 20th century most Jews in Israel were living in Jerusalem but a growing number were living on the coast, in Jaffa alongside their Muslim neighbors. As things grew more crowded with increased immigration from Eastern Europe, the city expanded into what is now Tel Aviv with housing but all of the “city” services were still located in Jaffa. In the late 1920s there were riots during which a number of Jews were killed, so the Jewish population transferred enmasse to Tel Aviv and in the 1930s increased their population from around 1200 to 30,000. As you might imagine there was a housing boom.
In the 1920s a school called the Bauhaus School developed in Germany, under the leadership of Walter Gropius. Those of you in Art 1B will be learning about this later in the semester. The Bauhaus philosophy related to architecture as well as design was one of the most influential movements of the 20th century. In architecture Bauhaus made use of reinforced concrete and steel, materials that lent themselves to fast and relatively inexpensive building. This style of architecture shuns ornamentation, is asymmetrical, and is more concerns with space than mass. Vertical and horizontal elements are carefully integrated for functionality.
Tel Aviv has the largest number of Bauhaus buildings in the world, an irony given that the Nazis closed down the Bauhaus school in 1933 as degenerate and many of the teachers and students had to leave Germany, some of them coming to Israel and responsible for designing these buildings. We were disturbed to see how shabby and neglected most of these buildings are. One reason is likely, stucco close to the ocean is probably not a great match.
This was an interesting way to end our sojourn here in Israel. Look forward to seeing or being in touch with most of you soon.
Jaffa port now part of Tel Aviv (called Tel Aviv Yafo), an ancient city that is mentioned in connection with Solomon, Jonah, and St. Peter.
Zadok ben David, Troubles in the Square, 2006, in front of Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Sharon Ya’ari, Bus Shelter front. This artist had a most interesting photography show at the Tel Aviv Museum.
Ya’ari, Bus Shelter back, Tel Aviv Museum. This seems like a non-descript structure though in Israel with the bus going everywhere it’s never a surprise to see one of these shelters in the middle of nowhere. It’s also the place Israeli soldiers stand to catch a “hitch” around the country. An important landmark in rural Israel.
Ya’ari, Hadera Apartment. This too is a quintessential Israeli image though subtle: the window coverings, the type of plant, and the barrenness around the plant. Hadera is an immigrant town with no “sites” to speak of so visitors don’t usually go there.
Gilad Ophir, Shooting Target, 1997, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Gilad Ophir, Untitled, 2006, Tel Aviv Museum. No explanation included but looks like the way Syrians and Egyptians tried to camouflage their fighter jets.
Rabin Square, where Yitzhak Rabin was killed when he was in the midst of delivering a speech advocating peace with Israel’s neighbors. It’s in the center of town.
This is a preserved graffiti wall topped with the Hebrew word “slicha” meaning “sorry”. I was in Israel in 1996 just 6 months after the assassination and this type of graffiti wall was scattered about the area. Glad to see they preserved some of this energy.
From a cafe on Rothschild Blvd. the artistic hub of Tel Aviv, lots of galleries and many young people in this area.
Lots of fruit juice stands throughout downtown, this one photographed as it started toward dusk.
A hotel along the beach front with two upside down accordion players- have no idea why.
Jerusalem Beach, Mediterranean
Promenade along the beach. Looks like Florida in the background.
Old and new, cranes just like in Jerusalem but try different style of architecture. Few tall buildings in Jerusalem, not so in Tel Aviv.
The living standard for most Israelis is fairly high and the country withstood the global financial meltdown for the most part. In the 1990s the population increased by over 1 million due to immigration from the former Soviet Union that brought highly skilled (some might say overspilled) immigrants to the country. Many are underemployed and people struggle as prices are high and taxes are an issue as well. It’s a change to be in a country that encourages immigration rather than discourages it and right now the largest influx is from France. We had breakfast today in a small cafe run by a French couple who have been in Tel Aviv for 4 years.
Everything is taxed including food, household goods, etc. and as an outsider you might not even notice since the tax is already figured in to the price. Health care and education are free though many people supplement this to give their kids additional education and pay insurance to have more specialists available to them if they are ill. Some things such as cars, computers, and other imports are astronomically taxed and travel outside the country is taxed as well. People complain about the 18% Value Added Tax (basically sales tax on everything) even though they do get benefits not available to us. Of course, Americans want to have everything but don’t want to pay for it, and there are lots of Americans here so maybe it’s an attitude as well.
In spite of this people are well dressed, there are lots of cars, not much homelessness. Tel Aviv University has a student population of 30,000 and Israel just opened its 5th medical school (in Tzfat). In one of the galleries today there were red dots, the cafes are full, and people have shopping bags. It’s just when you chat with people that they talk about how burdened they feel financially. Ariel Sharon was buried today on his farm in the Negev. Already stories are leaking out in the press about how Sharon was planning to return to the “Road Map” of negotiations after the Gaza withdrawal, unfortunately 8 years ago just before his stroke that ended in his death a few days ago. Perhaps in death Sharon can be a force for moving the peace process forward.
The view of Tel Aviv outside our hotel window. As you can see it’s quite a bit different from Tzfat. Tel Aviv is built on sand as you can see from the construction zone. The Mediterranean is to the right of what you see in this picture.
The port of Tel Aviv has been given over to restaurants, boutiques, and design stores. These are in historical buildings that were part of an exposition in the mid- 1930s.
Yakov Agam, an artist popular in the 1960s created this fountain in the center of downtown Tel Aviv.
A meeting of the minds at Tel Aviv University.
This moving sculpture is called “Eternal Repitition”. The caption for the work says “Three things intrigue us when relating to Jewish cultural heritage. The cycle of time, the wrong hand capturing time and events. The deleting-hand that attempts time and again, to erase heritage.
This moving sculpture was created by Michal Bar-oz and Ifat Moor at Tel Aviv University “Museum of the Diaspora.”
Interesting project brought together families to create squares to depict “what your family is made of”.
Detail of some of the squares.
Museum of the Diaspora entry model of the inside panel on “Arch of Titus.”
Sardis Synagogue, Turkey 3rd century (model)
Prague Synagogue, 13th century (model). This synagogue is still active
El Transito Toledo Synagogue, 14th century (model). Has been converted to a church.
Kai Feng Synagogue, China 13th century
Florenece Italy Synagogue, 19th century (model)
Touro Synagogue Newport Rhode Island, 18th century (model) oldest synagogue in North American
Frank Lloyd Wright, Beth Shalom Synagogue, Elkins Park PA, 1959 (model)
Synagogue Ceiling from Chodorow Galicia./Ukraine, community destroyed in Holocaust.
Grandpa Tzaki and his granddaughter in Ramat Gan. They are Facebook friends, love spaghetti Bolognese, and love the movies. Tzaki was a film producer until he lost his son in the hotel bombing in Taba (Sinai Peninsula). Grandpa and granddaughter have taken a “roots” trip to Poland.
Grandpa Dovik and gradnson Amit are posing in Kiryat Ata. Grandpa retired from Rafael (Advanced Defence Systems) and now spends time taking his grandson to soccer games and is Amit’s #1 fan. Dovik describes his mother being taken to the hospital in the back of a truck used to transport cows to give birth to him. Grandpa wishes for peace and grandson wishes for equality.
Grandpa Merhav lives in Hadera. He is a tour guide and this is his granddaughter Adi who studiens dance. For her Bat Mitzvah this year the family will travel to Jerusalem and Grandfather and Granddaughter will be tour guides. Grandpa remembers sneaking into the old city as a child.
As you can see Tel Aviv is a total opposite of where we’ve been up to now. It’s a city of 400,000 with a metropolitan area of over 3 million along the Mediterranean coast. It reminds one of New York or Miami. Just as Jerusalem is the heart of the religious communities in Israel, Tel Aviv is the heart of secular (sabra) Israel. The city was established on the sand just north of the ancient port of Jaffa in 1909. By 1950 they were one large city. Downtown Tel Aviv is lively though we haven’t seen many tourists this whole trip. It’s a very young city, lots of young people especially in the bars at night. The Tel Aviv port has been given over to restaurants and shops many of which are housed in buildings refurbished from international trade fairs in 1934 and 1936.
We visited Tel Aviv University at the northern end of the city where we saw the Beit Ha’Tefusot (Diaspora Museum). This is a museum that focuses on the worldwide Jewish communities and Jewish history outside of Israel. It is located on the campus of Tel Aviv University, the largest university in the country.
We saw the permanent collection which contains a number of models of synagogues around the world, some of which will surprise you. An interesting photography show featured elders born the year Israel got its independence with their grandchildren or other young children and how they relate to one another.
Tzfat is quite hilly and divided into quarters with very narrow streets. All the buildings are stone and you see lots of turquoise as this is considered a mystical color to ward off evil spirits.
Many religious Jews come to Tzfat for Shabbat and during the spring holiday of Lag B’Omer the city swells from 30,000 to 100,000 people with every bit of floor space or mattress occupied.
Most people never see the citadel, choosing instead to wander through the artists’ quarter.
As you can see from these trees, the snow that fell here about 3 weeks ago created quite a bit of damage. They had 20 inches of snow in a few days- a record.
In more recent history Tzfat was the home of both Jews and Muslims in the 20th century and we are looking down at the steps/road that separated the two communities. Now it is entirely a Jewish town.
Sandwiched in the middle of these buildings you can see a fortified pillbox with a searchlight on top that monitored the steps you just saw.
This is the former British Police Station that the British abandoned, giving the 1200 Jews then living in Zsfat one day notice that they were going and then handed the station over to the Arabs who outnumbered the Jews 10 to 1. The Jews would not abandon their homes and a fierce battle ensued.
You can still see the pock marks from weapons used to try to take the Police Station.
Ultimately the Jews of Tzfat prevailed with outside help from the Haganah (first Israeli army) but with a great loss of life. The odd looking building you see in the middle background is also a remnant from that time and has plaques commemorating the bravery of those who lost their lives.
This is what is known as a “Davidka” an odd looking weapon used in the Israeli War of Independence in an interesting way. My dad who fought in the War of Independence also told us stories about these odd weapons. They were not very accurate and there was a shortage of ammunition so the ‘”story goes” that setting it up on a pile of rocks made so much noise it scared people away.
Notice the drum on the roof- that is to collect and heat water (solar). This is an example of a courtyard in the Artists’ quarter of Tzfat.
Musicians abound and the music is decidedly Middle Eastern and “soulful” Jewish. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach who was a musical rabbi has had a big influence on Jewish liturgical music. The tunes are likely familiar to people who attend synagogue without even knowing where it came from.
This is a “Tzedakah” box embedded in the wall. “Tzedakah” literally translates at “righteousness” but most people understand it as meaning charity.You are invited to insert coins as you pass. You find these all over the country though none as embellished as these.
This is the original home (rebuilt into the Ari Sepharad synagogue). The Ari is the name given to Isaac Luria one of the most important Kabbalist (mystical) teachers in Judaism who came from Spain. He only lived to 38 but had an enormous influence on mystical Judaism.
We had the unexpected treat of being able to visit the Mikveh (ritual bath) for women in Tzfat. Our tour guide was our innkeeper who does the tour for groups who are not familiar with the rituals associated with the baths.
This is the henna room of the Mikveh, especially used before weddings.
Another view of the henna room.
The wedding room, just outside the bath for the bridal party to gather.
Women submerge in the bath after their menstrual cycle, at the beginning of the new month, and before important holidays. Men also partake but in a separate facility.
The prayers a woman says before and after submerging. They also had facilities for disabled women though this city is so accessibly unfriendly that I’m not sure how they would get there.
Looking up the hill you can see multiple layers of this city.
We aren’t used to seeing young children off playing by themselves, but here in Israel one sees that all the time, even in the big cities.
Israel is such a diverse country, one of the groups being Yemenite Jews who came here in the 1950s and early 1960s. This stand in the Artists’ colony makes Lachuch, a version of the wrap. Quite yummy.
As Shabbat approached Elana and Yakov were making their last “placements” for people in Jerusalem to have a Shabbat dinner. Now they could truly relax.
How many different ways can you spell the name of a town? Obviously many ways, since this is a transliteration of a Hebrew word. You might thing there are many different Tzfat cheese factories but there is only one, though signs directing you there spell it many different ways. Tzfat is one of the four holiest cities in mystical Judaism. Tzfat represents air (high on the mountain), Tiberias represents water (Sea of Galilee), Jerusalem represents fire (the Temple), and Hebron represents earth (where the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of Judaism are buried). There are few references to Tzfat in ancient sources until one gets to ancient Rome, when Tzfat was a garrison in the Jewish War against Rome in the 1st century. It is mentioned in the Talmud as one of the hilltop fire beacons (the first attempt at sending an email blast) where letting people know what the date was for the new month or a holiday was communicated by lighting a bonfire on the tops of mountains strung from north to south through the country.
The Crusaders were here because of the strategic location but Tzfat really began to develop as a mystical site in the 15th and 16th centuries after the Jews were expelled from Spain and some of the most brilliant scholars of the time came here. Tzfat has suffered from plague and several earthquakes, the last in the late 1800s. Today Tzfat suffers from some of the same problems as Nazareth, dependent on tourism but the visitors only stay a few hours mostly. The current mayor is trying to do something about that and there is a huge Klezmer festival now in late August and a newly established medical school. Recently the regional hospital has been sending in volunteers clandestinely to bring casualties out of Syria (only 20 miles away) to give them medical attention they obviously can’t get in Syria.
Having Shabbat in Tzfat was a magical experience and we truly got a rest. Everything shuts down at 2 pm on Friday and the tour buses are gone, the shops selling art that makes Carmel, CA. look cutting edge are closed, and the streets turn to pedestrian malls. We wandered and ate and napped and prayed. It was great and now we are off to the opposite- the hustle and bustle of Tel Aviv as we begin our reentry into our lives.
Courtyard of the hotel- this was once a house in the Arab quarter abandoned probably in 1948. Most of these houses have an inner courtyard and you can see how the inn was modernized. There have been a number of earthquakes over time in this area (last one late 1800s) and stones have come from various buildings in restorations.
To give you a geographical sense here in Tzfat we are 8 miles from the Lebanese border and 20 miles from Syria and 20 miles from Jordan. We are closer to Damascus than Jerusalem and closer to Baghdad than Eilat.
Just like in California one person is working and two are “supervising”.
We are staying and exploring in the old city (artist quarter) of Tzfat, very beautiful and mysterious.
Tzfat is kind of crazy place- no idea what you might encounter. The balloon in the middle says “Also Free Money” and the link at the bottom has a little dog and say “Lick” instead of “Like”
This store gives you all- the art makes Carmel, CA. look cutting edge but hey, this is a tourist destination. Just as in Mendocino people want to take home a seascape, here they’d like to take home a Galilean landscape or the portrait of a rabbi, or a hamsa.
Lots of shopping opportunities and we did. This store’s merchandise looked more interesting than most.
Check out the surfing rabbi!
The Safed (Tzfat) candle factory had amazing wax sculptures in addition to the actual candles. This chess set featured the Hasidim (one sect) vs. the Litvishe (my son-in-law). So the building in the corner is a replica of the Rebbe’s home in Brooklyn and there is an actual building that is rebuilt to look exactly like his home in New York for when he returns from the dead. The buildings are the castles. The figures all have wicks on their heads.
Here are the Hasids from the front- the Baal Shem Tov is in the front and Shlomo Carleback is cut off on the left.
Here you see the Litvishe side with Rav Kook and
The castle on the Litvische side is the Mir Yeshiva (the Harvard of Yeshivas) where Yakov studied before he got married.
Samson….
David and Goliath
Noah’s ark: back says “HMS Don’t Ask for Directions”
The Temple in Jerusalem
Elana and Yakov have joined us for three days and it’s great to have them back. We’ll be together over Shabbat in Tzfat which reminds all of us of a combination of our own little village of Mendocino and Berkeley. Pretty easy going and seems as though people, no matter what their persuasion are sympatico to others around them. I’m especially drawn to the little children and the under 3 boys as traditionally they don’t get their first haircut until they are three years old. You just want to cuddle with them unless they are having a tantrum on the street which also happens. We had our first day of “weather” with a bit of rain and it’s fairly cold here (at altitude) but I think those of you in California would be craving the moisture and those of you in the rest of the country would probably say we were wimps to be cold at 48 degrees.
Since it was Thursday, when we first reconnected both Elana and Yakov were busy making arrangements for people to have Shabbat dinner in Jerusalem. They are usually hosts themselves so they’ve had even more people to “place”. We are going to someone’s home for Shabbat dinner in Tzfat- will let you know more about that after Shabbat is over.
Something unique about the community they live in, is how much people help each other. Elana and Yakov just moved into a new apartment and of course one needs boxes for moving so they went to a moving box gemach to borrow boxes and then returned them when they were finished. A gemach is a service that one offers just because it’s something you have that you can share or a skill you have that you can share. There is no money exchanged. Some examples are the snake catcher (snakes get into people’s houses/apartments) who is an expert at catching them and you call him in when you have the problem, the chair gemach if you need extra chairs for a party or a dinner, the sea sickness gemach for a person who has expertise in that field.
When Elana and Yakov moved (the day before we arrived) a friend lent them their car, a few of Yakov’s study partners moved everything (for the price of some pizza) and the old neighbors sent their kids over to help when they got home from school. They only moved down the street a block or two.
When we were at Friday night services at the Kotel (Western Wall) there was an American man who lives in Jerusalem who makes sure everyone who wants has a place to go for dinner. Elana told us he finds dinners for 100 people every Friday night. They are one of the places people often go. He is wealthy enough that he also helps with scholarship money for people (like Elana) who want to come to study in Israel for short periods of time. There is a rabbi who is also a physician who advises people where to seek help from specialists he knows have the expertise or would suit the patient. He does this for no payment.
When we walked through the market in Tzfat we met a lovely young woman originally from Australia, working in one of the shops, wanted to be sure we had a place for Shabbat dinner and when she and Elana chatted they exchanged numbers in case Elana and Yakov want to come back to Tzfat or she wants to come to Jerusalem.
We are looking forward to our Shabbat experience here in Tzfat and are staying in a lovely inn in a converted house estimated to be about 200 years old. The hosts are a couple from Montreal who moved here about a year ago with their two children. They remind us of some of our neighbors and we feel very at home here. They told us a bit about Tzfat and we’ll be taking a walking tour with them later this morning. We are planning on going to the Carlebach shul for services this evening.
This cemetery in Nazareth contains Muslim, Christian, and Jewish graves. Some are quite old and it’s in the center of the old city. Apparently there is a group of Israelis that come every year made up of all three faiths who come to clean the graves.
Maimonides, the great Jewish sage is is often referred to as a polymath is one of the most important figures of Medieval Judaism. His grave is located in Tiberias though he died in Egypt while serving as physician to the Sultan Saladin.
On the way up to the grave we passed pillars each displaying one word representing the topics he wrote about including love, holiness, business, health, law, etc.
The women’s section- you can see half of the marble tomb on this side.
The Pioneer Cemetery (Kinneret Cemetery) is at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. It is the burial place of many pioneers who came to Israel in the early 20th century. They mostly came from Eastern Europe.
The cemetery is a bit chaotic with the older stone moved by tree roots and all the graves are above ground in the tradition from ancient times.
As we watched the sun set over the lake there is an automatic music box that plays old pioneer songs. It was quiet and a lovely place to wander.
On our way to Tzfat we stopped at Meron, the burial place of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who wrote the Jewish mystical text called the Zohar, a mystical text that is quite complex.
The blue covering is over what is supposed to be the grave though is probably more likely a cenotaph (representation of where the person is buried but no actual remains). There are always people there, women on one side and men on the other.
The son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who is an important Talmudist in his own right is also buried there.
This was a much more nicely appointed site than most I’ve seen.
There were many women and children there and apparently on Lag B’Omer there are 100,000 people at this site coming for pilgrimage.
Cemeteries and graves are interesting places to learn about history. Over the past few days we have managed to encounter a number of them in Nazareth, Tiberias (by the Sea of Galilee), and in the hills of Meron on the way to Tzfat where we will be spending Shabbat. The important things that make a community are schools and cemeteries. In Nazareth we were surprised to learn that people of all three faiths are buried in the same cemetery though usually they are buried in separate cemeteries. On the way to Tzfat we visited the hills of Meron, that look like the forests of the Sierra foothills. We saw a lot of damage from the snow they had a few weeks ago. Apparently Tzfat got 20 inches of snow. The tombs of Rabbis Hillel, Shammai, and Tarfon, among others can be found in the area. I was surprised to see that these rabbis were buried in such a beautiful natural environment. We will be in Tzfat for Shabbat so a short post tomorrow and then rest.
Nazareth’s old city is made up of narrow alleys and after a hair raising driving debacle we found the garage and were escorted on foot to the guest house (combination hostel and hotel)
The view from the second floor of the Fauzi Azar Guest House. The section on the right was recently added after the owners bought the inhabitants a new house.
Who knows how this car even got into the alley let alone the garbage truck you see behind. The town was immaculately clean.
Posters from the last mayor’s election. The woman candidate lost.
Beautiful girls of Nazareth.
The Imam of the White Mosque with our kvetchy tour guide. He was lovely and we saw him later by the mosque where he answered a number of questions for Terri and I.
This could be anywhere- Italy/Spain/Israel….
How about that electrical wiring- code?!
The Nazareth shuk- not for tourists: vegetables and household necessities….
They are building more guest houses to encourage visitors to stay as most people come to Nazareth for a few hours and so don’t really support the local economy.
The courtyard of the Fauzi Azar Inn.
The reception area of the inn: three arched windows- Ottoman design and love the chandelier with energy efficient bulbs. The one in our room had one hold-out “flame” bulb.
A house about to begin renovation.
This is one side of the main courtyard which appears to be quite large but not inhabitable. Architects and archaeologists have looked at various aspects of this structure and you can see there are many conglomerations of styles, stone, etc.
Here we are looking at either a chimney (though it seems there would be soot) or more likely a water source. The woman was one of three Russian women on our tour.
Some of the stones are from Roman times, some from the Crusader period, and still others from Ottoman times.
Inside the archway you see in the background is a room with a Crusader vaulted ceiling.
The woman in the front is from the Caucases region and has been in Israel for 16 years. The woman behind her is from Ukraine and has been in Israel for 3 years. We have encountered many Russians on this trip.
Our tour guide int he front- coast guard in California for 15 years, living in Nazareth for the last 4. Here we see arches again.
We visited the back of the spice shop that has been in business for over 100 years. What you see here is the well which they are not longer using.
Various tools for sifting, grinding spices
This is the old grinding machine which was in use until just a few years ago and had to stop because the neighbors complained about the voice.
The new grinding machine.
Inside the spice shop itself- notice the sifters of all sized and diameters.
Two nargilas ready for break time….the bags you see behind them contain spices coming from China.
Our tour guide claimed this barber was so good that people come from all over the Galilee to get their hair cut and face shaved. She claimed that even a well known rabbi in the region goes there.
Nazareth is supposed to have the best coffee in Israel and we did in fact have very good coffee. This is the roasting machine in a coffee shop we visited.
This is where the shells of the beans are collected.
The red machine is a giant grinder.
Ground coffee- can’t you just smell it?
No visit to Nazareth would be complete with a visit to a carpentry shop as Jesus was supposed to be a carpenter. I especially like the plastic chair on the table-
We stopped at a card room and had one of two yummy drinks- a hot cinnamon drink with chopped walnuts (he’s chopping the walnuts here using a mortar and pestle) or a lemonade and pomegranate juice drink.
The inner sanctum of the card room.
Basilica of the Assumption, current renovation from 1968, preserves the original crusader church.
After a pleasant drive through the Lower Galilee we arrived in Nazareth with what we thought was plenty of time and proceeded to get extremely lost. We have an amazing GPS but the problem was that it was trying to take us to a place that one cannot drive to. So we went around in circles, up and down streets that make most of the streets in San Francisco look flat and along some pretty narrow alleys. We definitely got a good look at most of the old city of Nazareth before we gave in and called the hotel. We were told that we needed to park in a garage (we did pass one that had the name of our hotel on it) and they would send someone to fetch us. We eventually found our way to the garage and the attendant said he saw us drive by a couple of hours before and knew we were destined to the Fauzi Azar Inn. He exaggerated about how long ago he’d seen us but we didn’t waste time trying to correct him. A lovely young Taiwanese woman was waiting for us and ferried us and some of our stuff up the hill to the hotel. We stayed in the Fauzi Azar Inn, a story unto itself. It is both a hostel and a hotel and we were of course among the oldest people there. It was pretty basic but the building has an interesting history. The Azar family fled in the 1948 war that gave Israel its independence though a few family members stayed in part of the house. If a house was abandoned anyone could move in and claim squatters rights, so part of the building went to other people and after a fire the rest of the house was abandoned for many years. Along came Maoz, a Jewish Israeli who was looking for a building to rent to start a guest house in Nazareth because of its central location and the fact that most visitors to Nazareth only come for a few hours. Maoz was a backpacker and also saw the interest that could be generated by the “Jesus Trail”, a 65 mile trail that one could walk through the Galilee to visit all the spots where the historical Jesus lived or did something important. He negotiated with the family and the rest is history as they say (12 years ago). People from all over the world come to stay there and that included us.
Today we took a walking tour of the old city of Nazareth with a tour guide associated with the Inn. She was a combination chamber of commerce, kvetch, and a bit strident but we did get to see some things that aren’t on the usual tourist agenda such as churches and mosques in this town. A word about Nazareth- population 85,000 with 80% Muslim and 20% Christian. It’s economy is based on tourism and with people only spending a few hours at the most it’s been a depressed town for a long time. Those of you who are in the Art 1-A class will see at the end of the semester how towns that had major cathedrals that attracted pilgrims, were prosperous because those pilgrims needed a place to sleep, to eat, and of course to shop. Things in Nazareth seem to be changing with the advent of guest houses such as the one we stayed in. We visited a spice factory, a ruined house that looks like what the Fauzi Azar probably looked like when Maoz started with it, and other things you’ll see in the slides. This evening we visited with Laura (Silvia’s sister- those of you who know the exchange student who lived with us in 1993-94) and her family who live on a kibbutz about 6 kilometers from the bed and breakfast inn we will be staying in for two nights. I’ve stayed here before and it’s most comfortable. They have vineyards and we chatted a bit about wine. More adventures tomorrow and we reconnect with Elana and Yakov.
Sunday we headed north and drove through the heartland of Israel. We passed many Muslim (have mosques with minarets) and Jewish towns on the way.
We stayed at the bottom of Mount Carmel and took the funicular railway up to the top for a view of the city and to see the Bahai Gardens.
I had heard about the Carmelit but this was the first time I rode on it. It is supposedly in the Guinness Book of World Records as the shortest train system in the world (6 stops). Was quite fun and how odd to be on an angle all the time.
This is the view from the top of the port and part of the city of Haifa. About halfway into the distance you can see a tall building that is called the Sail Tower. A close up (from the internet is the next image)
This makes sense in a port city to have a building called the Sail Tower. The architect is an Israeli named Dina Ammar, completed in 2002
Our hotel in Haifa is a converted private residence from the 1870s for the son of the Ottoman governor of Haifa. It has lovely gardens, marble stairs, arches, interesting woodwork and floor detail. During the British Mandate it served as a police station and until recently housed Haifa’s judicial court. Everything above the sign looks like it was a recent edition when it became a hotel.
The Bahai Temple and gardens occupies a central location in Haifa. The temple itself enshrines the boy of Siyyid Al Muhammad who died in 1850, known as the “Bab” who proclaimed the imminent arrival of the Promised One. It is a World Heritage Site designed and built in 1953.
We could not access the bottom part of the gardens and the temple on the day we were there but one can see the amazing terraces (19 total) symmetrically laid out over a kilometer of land. Members of the Bahai faith consider the Temple and gardens to be “a gift to humanity”.
Acre has a humus shop called “Humus Said” where every day they make a certain amount of humus and keep selling it until they run out and then they close. We went for lunch and took out humus, warm pita, and pickles/peppers/tomatoes/olives to a nearby square for an impromptu lunch.
Supposedly people come from all over Israel for this humus. It was pretty darn good.
These two little girls watched us have our picnic and then asked us to take their picture.
The citadel of Acre, expanded by Muslim rulers over the quarters of the Knights of the Hospital (Crusaders) is in the process of being restored. It too is a World Heritage Site.
This is once again a reminder of the structural strength of arches- this huge structure with very tall ceilings is filled with arches.
This room could have served as a dormitory or administrative center during the Middle Ages.
The rooms open up into a very large courtyard. Just to give you an idea, the sign on the wall says only 900 people can be in this space at once. Glad they aren’t here now. You can see the restoration going on above.
My favorite room was this one- the refectory in the Gothic style (rib vaults) has three massive columns in the center of the room.
As we waited to enter the Turkish Bath we were so confused about all the different audio guides they had given us. Terri was wired!
Don’t panic, this isn’t a petrified human body- it’s a bronze or other material they set up in the bath (with a hokey movie) to explain about the Turkish Bath. It was built by el-Jazzar and is in excellent condition though no longer in use. It was described in Crusader times so we know it has existed at least that long.
Israel is a very small country, about the size of New Jersey and one can drive from the furthest point north to the furthest point south in about 5 hours. Haifa is a working port city with a population of about a half million people in the metropolitan area. It sits on a bay of the Mediterranean with a mountain (Mount Carmel) dropping down to the sea so most of it is quite hilly. We had a little driving adventure in the evening when we went out of Haifa to the east to visit some relatives of Terri’s who live in Karmiel, supposedly a half hour from Haifa that turned into a two hour trek. We have a GPS with the car we rented and it did not recognize the spelling of the street they lived on so we made a lot of circuitous tours of Karmiel. The computer voice on the GPS also has the most hilarious pronunciation of Hebrew words so it’s some extra entertainment along the way.
On Monday morning we visited the Bahai Temple which sits in a beautiful garden in the center of Haifa. The Bahai faith is a monotheistic one with a belief in the unity of all humankind. The tenets of this faith are meditation, prayer, and service to others. One can see how a garden and temple such as this could foster that. In the afternoon we drove north to Acre, probably one of the most interesting, and under visited places in Israel or anywhere. It seems everyone from the Egyptians, Crusaders, Alexander the Great, Medieval Italians, Richard the Lion Heart, the Ottomans, and even Napoleon either ruled here or tried to. El-Jazzar, an Albanian soldier of fortune who had taken over the entire Galilee as an independent fiefdom until he was assassinated. Most significantly, with the aid of a British fleet he successfully defended the city of Acre from Napoleon’s troops in 1799. Napoleon was moving north from Egypt in order to open a route to India that would have changed history. In the afternoon we drove to Nazareth and again what should have been about a 40 minute drive ended up taking 2 hours but we arrived safe and sound. More on that next posting.
The pedestrian mall called Ben Yehudah on a normal day- lots of people.
Ben Yehudah on Sabbat- no stores or restaurants open so no people.
Walking to the Western Wall (Kotel) through the Armenian quarter towards the Jewish quarter.
You can tell these boys walking in the Jewish quarter are from the Breslov sect of Hasidim because of the skull caps (yarmulke/kippah) they wear. They are on their way to someone’s home inside the Old City for Shabbat.
The furry hat the man is wearing is called a shtreimel and a special robe only worn on Shabbat by Hasidim
This is the arch of the Hurva Synagogue which is located in the center of the Jewish quarter. It was originally built in the 18th century and was destroyed in 1721. It lay in ruins for 140 years. Hurva means destruction and the arch was erected as a commemoration in 1977. It was a powerful symbol.
The newly built synagogue in 2010- notice the arch has been incorporated.
This is about how crowded it was this past Friday night. It’s the most crowded I’ve ever seen. Terri pointed out that one thing we miss out on in the US is having a town square. In addition to those praying there was a lot of meeting and greeting going on in the very large but packed plaza in front of the Wall.
Prayer on the women’s side. Many students from the US are in Israel this time of year as they are on vacation from their universities. Men and women pray separately at the Wall and there has been some contention about what the women are permitted to do or not. Looks like a resolution may be coming soon in another area further away from the men’s section that will allow women who want more active participation to do so.
When it was time to go for dinner we met up with our group and some other friends of Elana and Yakov’s going to the same neighborhood and we went through the Muslim quarter as it’s a “short cut” to the Northeastern neighborhoods. It was heavily guarded the whole way by Israeli soldiers and we walked very quickly. I had not been in the Muslim quarter since 1970. Most of the businesses were closed- lots of arches different from the other quarters. I believe most of the arches are structural as they can carry quite a bit of weight above them.
We exited the Damascus Gate (Sha’ar Shechem) into a Palestinian neighborhood and once again reminded how closely people live to each other and hopefully can do so peacefully for all.
Final slide here is the view of Kikar Shabbat (Shabbat Square). It’s the crossroads of Mea Shearim that I already wrote about and a very busy intersection during the week. Just pedestrians and strollers on Saturday.
The Shabbat starts at sundown Friday and lasts until sundown Saturday. In all of Israel public transportation stops and in certain neighborhoods cars are not allowed and most stores are closed (it’s like Christmas Day in the US though it happens every week). So by 4 pm Friday the busy street our hotel is on, suddenly went silent. We hustled around after we returned from the Dead Sea trip to get food for Saturday as all the stores/restaurants would be closed. Everyone else was bustling around too and one thing I’ve always loved about Shabbat in Israel is that many people have flower bouquets they are taking home for Friday night dinner. We walked to the Western Wall along with a sea of other people and then to Elana and Yakov’s home for dinner (our daughter and son-in-law) who also invited two young women, both Russian, who are studying here. It was lovely to talk with them. It’s traditional to have guests Friday night and there is a man at the Western Wall who has made it his business to help anyone who needs a home to go to for dinner find one. He has a list of people who will take any stranger and he sets people up.
All the images on this posting came from the internet as it is not permitted to photograph on the Sabbath (for Jewish people). We had a lovely restful time and we really needed it. Saturday during the day we went to the Bible Lands Museum, the Shrine of the Book, and the Israel Museum all of which were open. We prepared ourselves for many of the sites we will be visiting in coming days. One thing I’ve learned teaching art history, is how wonderful it is when works of art stay in their home country so that one can really get an understanding of the context for it all.
Sunrise over the Dead Sea with the mountains of Jordan on the other side.
A little later in the morning, you can begin to see the terrain.
This is the Judean desert on the Israeli side of the Dead Sea.
Planted palms at the foot of Masada. We saw hundreds of planted date palms on the way back from Masada.
Masada: the people ascending the snake path look like little ants.
The excavated ruins atop Masada.
The excavated synagogue on top of Masada. Many ceremonies are held here nowadays including Bar and Bat Mitzvahs (coming of age ceremony) and military ceremonies for the Israeli army.
Shore of the Dead Sea (in Hebrew it is translated as the Salt Sea), lowest point on earth, 400 meters below sea level.
The Dead Sea has so much salt in it, that it is impossible to sink and you can read a newspaper while floating with no effort at all. The large group you see in the center is one of the youth trips for Americans 19-26 who have never been to Israel before. Since they are university students this is one of the busiest times for these trips and they were everywhere we went. It’s great for the kids but difficult to be around.
Oasis of Ein Gedi, natural springs about 15 miles from Masada
Caves above the oasis are similar to the caves that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in and not far from where they were found.
Ibex that are native to Ein Gedi. In Hebrew they are called Yael which is also the name of my younger daughter though she is definitely better looking.
Mosaic from ancient synagogue discovered at Ein Gedi Kibbutz next door to the park. It was discovered when they were digging a new field and has been excavated and studied. The mosaic was in surprisingly good condition considering it is from the 3rd-6th century CE
Upon our return to Jerusalem we saw evidence of the devastation from the 3 day snowstorm of a couple of weeks ago. There are lots of trees that had to be cut down and debris everywhere. This is Sachar Park, a large park close to the Knesset (Parliament building) and the Israel Museum.
Friday morning we left Jerusalem at 4 am to travel south the Masada. Of course it was dark the whole way there, and the reason we wanted to do that was to have sunrise at Masada. I had an injury in October and am not completely steady on the feet so I opted not to climb the mountain but have been there many times before so I stayed with the bus, chatted with the driver (an 8th generation Jerusalemite) and did some sunrise drawings. A bit about Masada: In 72-3 CE, almost 1000 Jewish rebels sought refuge atop Masada, a mountain in the desert south of Jerusalem that Herod had developed for himself complete with two palaces, baths, etc. The Temple had been destroyed in 70 CE and this was a kind of last stand against Rome. The rebels were besieged by the Romans though they were able to hold out for two years while the Romans built a giant ramp to access the top (on the west side). When the rebels realized they were going to be defeated, the chose mass suicide rather than submit to Roman death or enslavement. Terri provided the photographs of the ruins on top of the mountain.
After she came back down (cable car down and a 45 minute hike up) we traveled to the Dead Sea for a dip and to Ein Gedi, an oasis nearby that has a National Park preserve alongside the Kibbutz which grows dates. Ein Gedi is a spring fed oasis with gorges and waterfalls, ibex, and interesting plants and trees including Acacias and something called the Sodom Apple (poisonous if eaten). This would have been a complete enough day as is but we returned to Jerusalem to prepare for Shabbat which will give us a much needed rest. After Shabbat we will be leaving Jerusalem for the coast and the north for more adventures.
Poetry Without Words 