Jerusalem

I have spent the last five days in Jerusalem for Rosh Hashanah break. Even though I haven’t been to Jerusalem in six years, the city feels very familiar to me. I spent the first night with a friend from Williams. The subsequent three nights I spent at the home of my mom’s second cousin, who is in Jerusalem for the year studying to be a rabbi. She and her husband were incredibly kind to me, and I really enjoyed staying with them. I also got to meet another one of my mom’s second cousins and her daughter, who moved from New York to Jerusalem nearly a decade ago. My mother’s cousins are the only family I have in Israel.

On Erev Rosh Hashanah I went to services and dinner at Hebrew Union College (HUC)with other university-age students and rabbinical students. The panoramic windows afforded a breathtaking view of the city of Jerusalem.

On the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, HUC students led us on a tour through the Old City of Jerusalem on the way to Hezekiah’s water tunnel, where we held a brief Taschlich service (Taschlich is a symbolic ceremony where Jews throw small pieces of bread into a flowing body of water to represent the casting-away of last year’s sins). As those of us from HUC walked through the Dung Gate on our way to the tunnel, we inadvertently joined a parade of joyous yeshiva students and a variety of others Jews heading towards the same place. Walking down the hill from the gate to the tunnel was a surreal experience. Behind us stood the golden Dome of the Rock mosque, and below us lay the excavated remains of the First Temple. Ironically, this year the first day of Rosh Hashanah coincided with the first day of Ramadan.

As we paraded down the hill, armed soldiers patrolled beside us and above us, and small groups of Arab bystanders watched from the side of the road as we walked by, less than an arm’s reach away. Some of the bystanders stared at us quietly, but several of the young men and boys shouted and taunted us as we passed. I wish I had thought to wish them a “Ramadan karim”, or happy Ramadan. I would like to have more opportunities to interact positively with Israeli Arabs, but opportunities for dialogue, especially in English, appear to be scarce.

As much as I love Jerusalem, I also find that being there feels strangely unsettling. Jerusalem is supposed to be the capital of the Jewish homeland, yet as I walk the streets of the Old City I feel almost like an outsider. I am not Orthodox, I am not Israeli, and I am not sure I am welcome by many of the Jewish residents, much less the Arab residents. Even at the Kotel (the Western Wall) I feel more like a spectator than a participant. I am surrounded by observant Jews, yet I find that I am more ambivalent about my Jewish identity in Jerusalem than in many other places.

click on the link below to view my photos of Jerusalem (you will need to log in. username: deborahhemel@yahoo.com, password: deborahhemel).

http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=30260584/t_=34757088