I have been in my
apartment and my Hebrew classes for two weeks now and everything is going
great. 
Of course there is a learning curve to everything and I have to be
re-taught many lessons. A nice Jewish lady from somewhere like Philadelphia
told me at a bakery, “These people are so rude.” I scratched my head and told
her, “No, but they are so Israeli.” She
thought I was being funny, but truthfully, I have to remember things like
standing in line and waiting your turn is very Okinawan, but not very
Israeli. I have to remember that every
taxi driver takes a course in a) how to spot a tourist; b) how
to make him feel guilty about saying no to a private tour, and 
c) how to barter
on everything and not take no for an answer.
Fortunately I know a little Arabic and can 
tell them, “La Shukran…Kul
shay tamam” or “No thanks, everything is cool.” If that doesn’t work I just say
“Ani Gar Po” (or, “I live here”, in Hebrew).That doesn’t fix anything but I
have to believe it helps quell the force of the sales pitch. I have to
remember that walking down the road is a game of 
chicken…nobody moves out of
anyone’s way and when you bump somebody’s shoulder you either give them a mean
face or ignore them completely. I have to remember to not assume that anybody
is Jewish or Arab and keep any of my thoughts about the Israeli and Palestinian
issue to myself. I don’t discuss American politics either…you never know whose
side who is on, but one thing I know…most Israelis and Palestinians I have
talked to don’t like Obama due to his disdain for the lot of them…of course,
the “chicken sh*t” comment didn’t help, but THIS is not a political blog. I have made some friends in my ulpan
(intensive language course) from all over the world, Germany, Hong Kong, Slovenia,
France, and more, and several Palestinians.
Everybody is awesome in the class – we laugh and tell stories in Hebrew
about ourselves and our homes and families.
Learning in an ulpan is wonderful and I think my Hebrew is improving at
a good clip…plus I speak it everywhere I go. Unfortunately, the last language
that I mismanaged was Japanese and tonight after a nice but challenging convo
in Hebrew, I said to the lady “Arigato”. Dad thought that was pretty funny. Having
my dad here with me has been great. I
think sometimes having another person by your side helps overcome fears that,
alone, would be intimidating: things like walking around East Jerusalem, which I am getting familiar with. Whenever we are concerned we always ask,
“What would Mark [my brother] do?” He
would do it…and so do we. Walking around Jerusalem and seeing things you might
never get on a tour is great. We have
met and chatted with a lot of people and wandered through places like
Gethsemane, Bethesda, The Garden Tomb, Via Dolorosa. We have explored a lot of side streets and 
alleyways
to find interesting places and people. Of course we have been to the Western
(Wailing) Wall, the new Temple Institute, the Tower of David and the Church of
the Holy Sepulcher. A couple of nights
ago we heard a thunderous musical extravaganza about 9 p.m. and decided to go
in search of it. It was a bunch of
Chasidim celebrating in the streets and playing music and dancing wildly as
they took the Torah into the synagogue.
The music was lively and the mood was enthusiastic. We enjoyed it, then
we went home. Always something new and
interesting and I am excited about what the next 11 weeks will bring.
PS: there have been more
terrorist attacks lately, but I am watchful and cautious, plus I am not hanging
out in places where an attack is more likely to happen. Of course I know it can happen anywhere, but
it is certainly less likely in my mixed Arab and Jewish and Goyim
neighborhood. No worries, here. If anything, I would invite all my friends to
come see me in Jerusalem, when or if I get a job here be-ezrat HaShem. Shabbat
Shalom y’all.
Time just has a way of getting away from a person. I have finished my 5th week in
Hebrew Ulpan (language school) and it is starting to get more challenging
although by building on what I already know and practicing regularly, I am
getting the hang of it. There is so much
to do and see in Jerusalem, and that, coupled with showing my dad and 
Betsy around,
I find myself ready to branch out a little. We have done the big things, plus
some stuff I haven’t done before. Some
of those things involve walking in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem, and while
I understand the idea of not wanting to take a large group of tourists there
for safety’s sake, there are things not to be missed. Things like walking up the Mount of Olives
from Gethsemane; things like walking through the Lion’s Gate where Stephen was
stoned to death as the first Christian martyr, and walking around the ruins of
the pools at Bethesda where Yeshua (Jesus) healed a crippled man. We have been
to the serene Garden Tomb and walked the Via Dolorosa from “The Pavement” where
Yeshua was tried by Pilate, to the elaborate Church of The Holy Sepulcher.
Walking in and out of the Damascus Gate and in the Muslim and Christian Quarters
calls for keeping a watchful eye, but overall, it has been awesome. We went this last week to The Davidson Center
near the Dung Gate and they have recently opened the Ophel: the corner where
the old old city met the Temple. It was
very cool ascending the giant marble stairs that once up led into the Temple
grounds and seeing the remains of houses and mikves and other artifacts and
excavations. I had to hum Shir LaMaalot (a song of ascents – Psalm 121) while I
was going up to the Temple Mount. This
weekend we are in the Galilee in places like the Mount of Beatitudes and
Capernaum, walking around the hill area that Yeshua and the disciples knew so
well. Staying in a nice apartment
overlooking the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) is nice too. As I write I see fishing
boats on the glassy waters of the Kinneret with a light fog subduing the far
shore.
We have had a lot of rain (torrential at times) but it makes
everything so green and beautiful, not to mention cleaning the air. Of course when you add in the cold weather,
it has been just short of miserable on some days. There have been a few more
terrorist attacks since I last blogged, awful things, but I have managed to
stay out of trouble. There are lots of
police and IDF strapped with weapons and riot gear standing by, everywhere from
the holy sites to the trains, so I feel like as long as I don’t get crazy, or act too suspiciously when trying to get a cough drop out of my bag,
I will be fine. That last bit bears
mentioning since people always seem to wonder about safety. At least I am not in Ferguson. I feel quite safe in my ‘hood in Jerusalem,
but as a Palestinian classmate told me the other day, “Of course you feel
safe here. You are not a Jew or an
Arab.” I suppose everything is relative. My life is blessed and my opportunities
are a gift…a thing I have to keep in front of my mind. The pictures are from top to bottom, then left to right: Mount of Olives; Golgotha (Garden Tomb); Temple Stairs (Ophel); police at Damascus Gate; Soldiers in the Jewish Quarter; Byzantine remains (Old City); Western Wall tunnels; Pools at Bethesda; Tower of David (Citadel); Dome of the Rock grounds; Gethsemane; Calvary (Church of the Holy Sepulcher); White synagogue at Capernaum; Jordan River
