Pictures from Israel (Part 1)

Our visit to the Kotel
Maharat HaMachpeila
Masada's many chambers
Van Leeuwen on a Leeuw

Shos in the cable car on the way up to Masada
Daniel and Shos with their new furry friend - at sea level
Overlooking Ein Gedi
Kever Rachel
Enjoying some kosher KFC at Jerusalem Mall

A missing bus and a ride on a camel

The last three days have been quite an adventure. On Sunday we bought some tickets for two days on the tour bus around Yerushalayim, and we got off by Yad VaShem. This is a museum dedicated to the Shoah, and we got there on time for the 11 o'clock tour. The tour was pretty amazing, and it was really moving seeing some of the images and the actual pieces of the boxcar that transported so many Jews to their death.



Things hit a bit of a snag when we got out. We waited for over an hour and a half for the tour bus to show up. While we waited, the taxi drivers kept coming up and asking if we wanted a ride - they kept circling us like a bunch of vultures looking for the kill. Eventually, we took a shuttle van from Yad VaShem to Mount Herzl and took a bus from there to the Central Bus Station (the tour bus apparently was stuck because of a protest on Sunday). While we were at the bus station, we saw another tour bus, so we tried getting on that - except that bus was broken down! After calming down a bit and getting a burger to eat, we came out - and the tour bus finally pulled out (with us on it) around 6 PM, so we at least had a ride back to our hotel.



Monday didn't start out too well - we waited 20 minutes for the bus and when it finally showed up, it was full! AAARRGGG! Eventually we just took a taxi to the Israel Museum, where we were able to get a tour about the Dead Sea scrolls, scrolls that were written nearly 2,000 years ago and found in 1947 in Qumran. After the tour, we decided to try waiting for the tour bus again (what can I say, we're suckers for trying!). We waited for nearly an hour before trying the regular bus stop up the street. After 15 minutes of nothing showing up, we decided to walk back to get a taxi - and the tour bus showed up! We then took it to the kotel where we prayed some more, got some pita sandwiches nearby (the shnitzel was pretty good), and went back to the hotel.

Tuesday was a much better day. We had arranged before to get a private tour with Avraham, the taxi driver who took us to the different places on Friday. We went to a couple of kibbutzim, to see how they live, and went to Qumran itself, where we were able to see some of the caves where the scrolls were found in. We also did a lot of shopping there (Ahava is a brand of creams, and they sell a lot at Qumran). On the way down, we got down to sea level, and there was a Bedouin there who had a camel. For 20 shekel, Shosh and I each took a turn sitting on the camel (that was a bit scary, but fun!), and we got some great pictures.

Afterwards, we moved on to Ein Gedi, where we saw some beautiful views - and even some mountain goats passing by! Next, we went up to Masada. We took the cable car up and spent a lot of time looking around the different places. Shosh got some good color on her skin from all the sun! I was thinking a bit of taking the 'snake path', the natural pathway down the mountain, but decided not to do it (besides, I had already paid for the round trip with the cable car). I did go down a few meters just to get some pictures, but then went back to the cable car.

Finally, we went to Kibla beach, which is by the Dead Sea. We went in and went floating in the water, though when I tried getting out, I fell through a sinkhole and banged my knee a bit (I'm ok!). It was a lot of fun being in the water, though Shosh and I are both glad to be back, taking a shower in our own room, and getting some clean clothes on! On to tomorrow...

Seeing Israel on 1,000 shekels a day

We had decided on Friday morning to go to Rachel's Tomb after all, but the question was how to get there. We wanted to take a bus there, and Shosh suggested I ask at the front desk about when the local bus would come, so we could get the bus at the Central Bus Station to Rachel's Tomb.

Then we were approached by Abraham.

He is a taxi driver for the hotel, and he suggested driving us there, plus driving us to a place nearby, the tomb of Shmuel HaNavi. His going rate was more than we were planning on spending - 120 shekalim per hour (about $38 an hour) - but we couldn't argue with the fact that it would be quicker, and we would get the opportunity to see more than we had planned. So we decided to go with him.

At this point, I should point out that passing through checkpoints is not quite the image you see on the news - though sometimes it is. The checkpoints to get through to Shmuel’s Tomb was a small one, and we were able to get through without a problem. We davened for a bit there, and took some photos, and got back in the car. Getting to Rachel's Tomb is something else. The cab driver had to wait outside while we took a bus through the next checkpoint - and it's here you also get an up close look at the security fence/the wall, which was probably about 30 feet high. The bus going back would be another hour, so we had plenty of time to pray there. While there, we also saw part of a Bas Mitzvah that was taking place over there. You're not likely to see such a bash on "My Super Sweet 16", but trust me - such a party would have to cost quite a bit of money, between the van going there and back and the photographer.

Once we were done, we had another choice to make. Abraham, our cab driver, offered to take us to Mearas Ha'Machpeila, the Tomb of the Patriarchs. My uncle Avraham has gone there many times in the past. According to him and my aunt Miriam, the shul they have there even accepted a Torah scroll from him (which can cost in excess of $50,000), which is not something they do lightly. My uncle would tell me that I should go there, to experience it. To experience it, though, would cost us another 500 Shekels.

The heck with it, we went.

Most of the ride there was without incident. Israel has set up a bunch of bypass roads, to allow people to get from one place to another without having to go through Palestinian territory (though we did, again, see more of the security wall on the way there). Once we got through the second to last checkpoint, though, is when things got really sketchy. For all the advances Israelis have put up in their communities, most of the Palestinian roads and houses look like they haven't been updated since the dawn of time. Most of the houses looked like they were bombed out, and although there was not too many people on the road (since it was Friday, when many Muslims are in the mosques), there was always the possibility of someone throwing rocks or shooting at our car - hence the high price to get there.

Once we got through the checkpoint to get to the area of the Tomb, though, then we all started to relax. There's not much in the way I can describe the feeling of passing through a place where our Biblical ancestors lived - and seeing a bunch of Muslim covers on the places where the tombs are supposed to be (half of the building is reserved for Muslims, and it's enforced with armed security guards). Still, we were able to say our prayers, and I got the feeling of openness that my uncle must have when he goes there. Yes, there are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living right next to the 700 or so Jews in the area - but if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to see the Tomb at all.

On the way back, we decided to use Abraham for our day trip to Ein Gedi and Masada. Yes, it'll cost us plenty of money, but there's something supremely cool about getting a private tour in a taxi through a bunch of biblical areas.

Friday afternoon, we walked to the middle of the city. Shosh's friend Towa was spending the weekend in a hostel with some of her family, so we were going to go there to spend some time with her and have dinner (and lunch the next day) at the hostel. After we lit candles to start the Sabbath, we walked to the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem, which is a big building that has room for hundreds of people for prayers. It was nice being able to listen to a real choir as part of maariv. Dinner wasn't too bad - it was a buffet style with beef, chicken and a bunch of side dishes. The place was only a third full, so I didn't feel guilty of taking a second helping... until the other two thirds showed up almost an hour after we did. Oops! Then we found out that the 'lunch' we had already paid for was actually breakfast - from 7 AM to 9:30 AM. *sigh* oh, well...

Shabbos was pretty quiet. We got up late, around 9:30, and realized that we would be too late to walk to the Western Wall, so we opted to say shacharis downstairs. Though by the time we got downstairs, the minyan was already finishing. Oh, well. By the time we finished, though, I was just exhausted because I had a bad night's sleep, so we went upstairs and spent a good part of the day sleeping and reading in our hotel room. We did go out during the day for a walk in the area near our hotel, but we came back after an hour or so.

After shabbas was over, we decided to go to the Jerusalem Mall, which is the largest mall in Jerusalem. Getting there with a taxi was a bit of an adventure. A quick note - Israeli drivers have a notorious reputation as being a bit nutty on the road, and I can confirm this. It's a good thing we were wearing seat belts lol.

Once we got there, we were both struck by how big the mall is (it's not the world's biggest, but at three floors, it has plenty of room), but even more so by how many people were at the mall. It was like walking through Times Square in a big mall. Just thousands and thousands of people going all over the place, and hundreds of people lining up to see one of a bunch of movies at the movie theater there.

When we went to a bookshop to get some books for ourselves, we found four books we wanted to get. And then we were asked if we wanted to buy a jar of coffee. Or two. Because some bookstores here have a promotion that if you buy two books, buying a jar of coffee (which costs around 25 shekels, or about $7) will get you the second book (which can cost three times as much or more) for free. We had this also on Thursday, when we bought a couple of books on Jaffa Road, and since we'd be saving a total of more than 100 shekels, it just made sense. Except we now have three jars of coffee! Anyone want some?

Our 1st day in Jeruzalem

Finally we are in Jerusalem. Checking at Schiphol airport went fast, unfortunately mom had to drive back to our apartment because we forgot our glasses. The flight on itself was longer than expected due to the bad weather. On the plane there was a kid that was crying a good deal of the time, this made our flight even longer. Finally at 3.15 am we finally set foot on Israeli ground. The airport has changed a great deal since the last time we were here. At 4.40 am we checked in at the Moriah Classic were we will be staying for the next 1.5 weeks.

Today we went to the Kottel and walked through Jerusalem. Everybody wants you to buy stuff by them and we said no to everybody. At one point we were a bit lost on our way to the Jaffa gate. A little boy saw us and walked with us for a few minutes and explained how to get there. When he left, he said:"can I have some money?". Sneaky little bastard. At the end we found it and walked around quite some time. At Jaffa Street we saw my friend Keren, which was a suprise. We ate at a Kosher Burger King!!!!

Tonight we won't do to much but are going to sleep on time. it has been a few long 2 days.
Pictures will be uploaded as soon as we can.
Till the next blog!

Getting ready to go to Israel

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time to reflect on what you've done in the past year, what you're going to do in the future... and whether or not you remembered to pack your swimming trunks.

For Shoshanna, it's been 8 years since she was in Israel. For me, it's been 11 years... but it's been 20 since I was last in Yerushalayim, so for the most part, this will be a new experience for me (and hopefully for Shosh as well). We'll be hopefully bringing you updates from the Holy Land as we have time to do so (you know, when we're not knee deep in the pool by our hotel), so please check back here to find out more of our exciting trip!

Happy birthday, Shoshanna!

Yesterday was Shoshanna's birthday, which as you can imagine posed a bit of a problem - it could really only be held on Shabbos, since today is Tisha B'Av, and the rest of the week we have other plans (less than 4 days to go before we go to Israel!). So Friday I went shopping for cake, and came back with a bunch of stuff. And yesterday we made sure to get up on time so we could set up the cake and refreshments. At 4:30 PM, we started having guests come over (I consider myself lucky - I only had to run up and down the stairs twice lol), and we had a wonderful time. There were plenty of people, but it wasn't so crowded that you couldn't make a good conversation with other people. And we were both quite happy that not only mama, Erez and Chowav came, but also that Chaim and his girlfriend Bianca came as well (though a bit late - the Coca Cola was gone by that time!). All in all, it was, as we would say in Dutch, a 'gezellig' time. Here's hoping that Shosh's upcoming year will be filled with nothing but happiness and simchas!

Our first blog

Welcome to our home! For those of you who have not yet been to our apartment, we thought we'd swing the door open a bit and let you have a bit of a peek inside. This blog will be talking about our experiences in Holland, as well as any upcoming adventures we'll have (Israel, here we come!... in 11 days).

Although Shosh's birthday isn't until next week (you still have time to send gifts to us, and if enough people ask for it, we can also accept credit card payments as gifts - just kidding!), I wanted to do something nice for her, so I planned a little picnic for her. Unfortunatelty, the weather wasn't cooperating too much with me, so instead we had an INDOOR picnic in our living room. We had some tuna, salmon spread, egg salad and crackers, and it was a fun time for both of us. Of course, since Shosh's actual birthday is on Shabbos, that means that we'll be having some cake and coffee (tea for Shosh!) here at the apartment Shabbos afternoon. Here's hoping we get plenty of people who come on Shabbos!

Keep checking back every so often for updates from Shosh and myself - especially when we go to Israel on the 13th of August! We'll have a lot to talk about then! Until then, tot ziens! :)