Horowitz Travel-Israel-Jerusalem-
K'nesset-January 19, 2017
Thank you for all your responses. Now I know I'm not blogging into a void.
We made a stupid American mistake yesterday. Rabbi Lauren Werber, former assistant at our Temple in Akron & now rabbi in Cleveland, is in Israel for a time. We invited her for Shabbat dinner tomorrow. We'll try the carry-out place that's only open Thursday & Friday. We gave her explicit directions on how to get here telling her what bus number to take & that we'd meet her at the bus stop. Duh! It's going to be Shabbat. No buses. She'll take a cab. Hope no ultra-Orthodox Jews throw stones or curse at it. It's been known to happen.
We took a bus to the K'nesset (Israeli Parliament). Bus drivers don't commonly speak English, but ours was helpful getting us to the closest stop to the iconic building. We easily found the entrance & were casually asked by a guard if we had a weapon. We said, "No." He said, "OK." Not very intimidating.
Passports were checked as we entered the building. We lined up to go through security where passports were checked again. For some reason, ours weren't stamped when we entered the country. We also don't have the card that's issued in lieu of stamps. Some Middle Eastern countries won't admit those with an Israeli stamp on their passport, thus separate cards are used. After some computer work, it was decided we weren't a threat.
The metal detectors are so sensitive that David almost didn't make it through fully clothed. He emptied his pockets, removed his belt, & jacket before he passed. It was warm, so I tied my scarf around my waist. That caught the eye of security. I had to remove it & explain what it was. Their care is reassuring.
When we went to the area for English speaking tours, the guide asked for younger people to stand so elders could sit in the available chairs. I think we were profiled. Didn't like it.
The Israeli government has three branches: executive, legislative, & judicial. K'nesset, the legislative branch, is from the Hebrew, “to congregate”. Two thousand years ago, when the twelve tribes of Israel (the children of Jacob) formalized how they'd govern themselves, ten men were chosen as representatives from each tribe. Today, there are 120 representatives in the K'nesset. They are elected by voters casting ballots for a party, not an individual. The composition is of men and women with seventeen non-Jews (Christians, Muslims, & Druze).
Chagall Hall is the main reception area decorated with mosaics and tapestries by the artist himself. When the government asked him if they could hire him to provide the art, he donated it. The Hall is primarily used for state receptions.
A copy of the Declaration of Independence, written in 1948, professes high ideals, some of which have been achieved, and some not. It calls for peace and justice for all regardless of race, religion or sex, and extends a hand to neighboring states in peace and neighborliness. It calls for a constitution to be written in one year. That still has not happened.
The place where the representatives go for voting & speechifying looks like any other, but the rows of desks there are configured in the shape of a menorah, the iconic candelabra & symbol of Israel.
Thank you for all your responses. Now I know I'm not blogging into a void.
We made a stupid American mistake yesterday. Rabbi Lauren Werber, former assistant at our Temple in Akron & now rabbi in Cleveland, is in Israel for a time. We invited her for Shabbat dinner tomorrow. We'll try the carry-out place that's only open Thursday & Friday. We gave her explicit directions on how to get here telling her what bus number to take & that we'd meet her at the bus stop. Duh! It's going to be Shabbat. No buses. She'll take a cab. Hope no ultra-Orthodox Jews throw stones or curse at it. It's been known to happen.
We took a bus to the K'nesset (Israeli Parliament). Bus drivers don't commonly speak English, but ours was helpful getting us to the closest stop to the iconic building. We easily found the entrance & were casually asked by a guard if we had a weapon. We said, "No." He said, "OK." Not very intimidating.
Passports were checked as we entered the building. We lined up to go through security where passports were checked again. For some reason, ours weren't stamped when we entered the country. We also don't have the card that's issued in lieu of stamps. Some Middle Eastern countries won't admit those with an Israeli stamp on their passport, thus separate cards are used. After some computer work, it was decided we weren't a threat.
The metal detectors are so sensitive that David almost didn't make it through fully clothed. He emptied his pockets, removed his belt, & jacket before he passed. It was warm, so I tied my scarf around my waist. That caught the eye of security. I had to remove it & explain what it was. Their care is reassuring.
When we went to the area for English speaking tours, the guide asked for younger people to stand so elders could sit in the available chairs. I think we were profiled. Didn't like it.
The Israeli government has three branches: executive, legislative, & judicial. K'nesset, the legislative branch, is from the Hebrew, “to congregate”. Two thousand years ago, when the twelve tribes of Israel (the children of Jacob) formalized how they'd govern themselves, ten men were chosen as representatives from each tribe. Today, there are 120 representatives in the K'nesset. They are elected by voters casting ballots for a party, not an individual. The composition is of men and women with seventeen non-Jews (Christians, Muslims, & Druze).
Chagall Hall is the main reception area decorated with mosaics and tapestries by the artist himself. When the government asked him if they could hire him to provide the art, he donated it. The Hall is primarily used for state receptions.
A copy of the Declaration of Independence, written in 1948, professes high ideals, some of which have been achieved, and some not. It calls for peace and justice for all regardless of race, religion or sex, and extends a hand to neighboring states in peace and neighborliness. It calls for a constitution to be written in one year. That still has not happened.
The place where the representatives go for voting & speechifying looks like any other, but the rows of desks there are configured in the shape of a menorah, the iconic candelabra & symbol of Israel.
We had errands to do and one of them had a bonus of doing a mitzvah, a good deed. Some of our purchases were from a store where all their products are made by people with Autism.
Lynn Wiskind, formerly of Akron, came by to pick up an item we brought for her. It was delightful to visit with her and catch up on her family. She observed that the ceilings in our apartment were very high and thought it had been built for Arabs years ago. High ceilings weren't typical of Israeli style.
Dinner was a bust. We looked forward to eating at Burgers Bar (not a typo). It's similar to Five Guys, but flavorless.
We found a liquor store that specialized in wine. The owner spoke no English. He was trying to be helpful, but his words fell on ignorant ears. We couldn't decide on an Israeli wine, & he interpreted that to be we wanted wine from another country. He came up with a Chianti from Italy. David finally got him to understand that we wanted a moderately priced Israeli wine, but didn't know one from the other. I told him to choose a Cabernet Sauvignon. We still don't know what we have except that it's a Cab. He assured us it was excellent. We'll find out tomorrow night.
We hit the streets early tomorrow to buy the weekend Jerusalem Post & prepared food at the Shabbat dinner carry-out. Wish us luck.
Toby
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| Chagall Art |
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| K'nesset |
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| Menorah, Symbol of Israel |
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