06/12/2019 05:07:25 PM
Installment #5
On our 1st full day in Jerusalem, we had a sumptuous breakfast at our modest hotel. Then went next door to the YMCA, with its iconic (some say phallic) tower, designed by the same architect who designed the Empire State Building, & dedicated in 1933 by Field Marshall Allenby.
*A quote from his dedication speech is in front of the YMCA.
We took the elevator to the top, where there is a wonderful view in every direction except East, where the view of the Old City is mostly obstructed by the imposing & almost-as-tall King David Hotel across the street. If you look carefully over the roof of the King David, slightly left of center, you can just make out the top of the golden Dome of the Rock.
Linda took the elevator down, I took the 216 steps which, in some parts, are extremely narrow, almost like those of a medieval bell tower. There IS in fact a carillon 3/4 of the way up the tower.
After that, on our way to the supermarket for some food for the room, we passed the new---and controversial---American Embassy. After Linda took a photo of me in front of the door, a security person came out to request that we please NOT photograph the door. So here's the photo, but please don't share it with anyone!
It always amuses me when I see English words spelled out in Hebrew letters, so I had to take this photo of 2 bottles of Ginger Ale, spelled in Hebrew.
Seventh Day Adventists get their name from the fact that, although they are Christians, they celebrate the Sabbath on Saturdays. Passed their Jerusalem headquarters, so I took a photo.
Tonight we attended the Seder of friends, Raymond & Suzanne Goldstein. Raymond was my best friend when I lived in Jerusalem in the 1970's, and is a first-rate musician and scholar of Jewish music. Synagogue choirs all over the world have performed his compositions & arrangements. He performed just two or three years ago at Temple Israel, accompanying me in one of the CANTOR & FRIENDS concerts.
I don't know whether this is a difference between Israeli & American practice or between Orthodox & non-Orthodox: In America, most synagogues seem to cancel services on the 1st night of Passover, so as not to be competing with peoples' Seders. In Israel, that is not the case. Raymond & I walked a few blocks from his house to a building where there is one congregation on the ground floor, another on the 2nd floor, & still another on the 3rd! Raymond took me to the one in the middle, where they conducted the Mincha service, followed by a brief "SHI'UR" (class), followed by Kabbalat Shabbat & Ma'ariv. Then we returned to Ray's house for an excellent Seder of the best kind, filled with lively discussion, lots of singing & laughter, and of course excellent food. The only problem was that because of the services we attended, we did not get back to Raymond's home till about 8:15, so the Seder did not start till about 8:30! A much later start than we are used to. And between reciting 90% of the Haggadah, the aforementioned lively discussion, and a leisurely dinner, we did not leave until around 12:40 am! And then we had a 30-minute walk back to our hotel! But on the way, we passed lots of other folks who were walking home from Seders THEY had attended. We all greeted each other with "Shabbat Shalom, Chag Samei'ach". It was very HEIMISH! And despite the lateness of the hour, we felt absolutely safe.
I got a lesson today in current Israeli banking practices: As many of you know who have visited Israel in the past, if you need to change dollars into shekels, you used to go into a bank. I thought that was still the case. (I have not been in Israel in seven years.) So this morning, I went to the bank across the street from our hotel, (BANK LEUMI) and was told that they only do "private banking." So I went to a different bank, BANK HAPOALIM, and was told that they only exchange money for their account-holders. (This may be what the lady at the first bank was talking about.) Then I went to a third bank, and finally realized that this tourist-unfriendliness was universal! The only useful information I got from the third bank, was that if I were to go to one of the ubiquitous little booths where money is exchanged, they actually charge a smaller commission than the banks charge their members! So an hour after I left the hotel, I finally changed my dollars to shekels.
