Was In Old City, but Didn't Doven at Kotel

I may have mentioned this before. I'm not a great fan of the Kotel, the Western Wall.

Contrary to popular misconception, it's not a remaining wall of the Holy Temple, sic, there were two plus, nor is it "the  holiest spot in the world for Jews.

The Kotel is the remains of a very sturdy retaining wall of the Temple Mount, which is where the Holy Temples had stood before destroyed by anti-Jewish invaders.

I think of the Kotel as an old outdoor synagogue, which conveniently has an Ezrat Nashim, women's section. The holiness is derived more from the fact that it has been a place of Jewish Prayer for so long. One doesn't need to ritually purify oneself before going to pray there, which is the preferred requirement for entering Har Habayit, the Temple Mount.

What do you think about it?

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #29, Kotel WC, Prayer Come True

This is a continuation in my ongoing series about public toilets in Jerusalem. See  #28, #27,  #26,  #25,  #24,  #23, #22, #21,#20, #19, #18, #17, #16,  #15a, #15,  #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9,  #8, #7,  #6,  #5, Saved by The First Station aka #4a, #4, #3, #2 and #1

To say that I was "pleasantly surprised" at the state and setup of the public toilets near the Kotel, Western Wall would be quite an under exaggeration. Over the decades the situation has changed from non-existent to "hold it in," to "you must be joking," but now they get top rating.

As I blogged here and here, last week I was in the Old City with my senior citizen class for a tour of the Kotel Tunnels. Convenient and usable public toilets are especially necessary for those of us of a certain generation, and time was allocated for "toilet breaks."

At first I was rather nervous about what we'd discover in the WC near the entrance to the Kotel Tunnels, which is near the Men's side of the Kotel. But I was overjoyed to discover that it was clean and had staff on hand.

There are also lots of stalls, and as you can see from the icons on the right, there's a baby area and handicapped stalls, too.

My only suggestion, not even a complaint, is that there should also be lower signs outside indicating which entrances are for men and women. Some of the elderly couldn't look up easily and entered the wrong door.  See the uppermost photo.

These WCs are also the official ones for the Kotel Tunnels, besides the Kotel itself. It's a real pleasure to have some good news to report.

Kotel Tunnel Tour

Yesterday, the senior citizen program I study in went on a tour of the Kotel Tunnels with the students who worked with us on our "stories" for the multi-generational project of the Museum of the Jewish People, formerly the Diaspora Museum. I must tell you that if you've been there before, unless it was a very short while ago, you'll find it totally changed. Also, there are a number of tours and activities offered. I doubt if you'll be bored if you go again.

Most if not all of us had been there before, but none of us had participated in the activity we did there yesterday. Bli neder, I'll write more about the activity in a future post.

For example, this enormous and impressive hall hadn't been emptied out the last time I was there.

Recycling, Donating Old Scarves

Apparently, I'm not the only one with a houseful of things I no longer need/use but can't bear to throw them out. At least I found a solution for my old scarves, the ones I no longer wear. Some are in perfect condition, but they're old fashioned, a bit frayed or faded. Not even the clothing gmachs, the special low-price charity stores would be interested in them.

A couple of years ago, I found a place that does want old scarves. Those ladies at the Kotel, the Western Wall, who offer women a cover-up. Yesterday I met a group of friends for one of our periodic f2f get-togethers, this time in Jerusalem's Old City. Beforehand, I reminded them that they could donate tichels, scarves at the Kotel. So a few of us brought bags full of them, all styles and colors. They were received with great thanks and enthusiasm, and within a short time, we could see visitors wearing some.

Nice Cold Water at The Kotel

As I finished dovening yesterday at the Kotel, my drinking water was finished, too. Here we are at the tail-end of summer and still need to drink a lot. Water fountain water is not all that tasty, but just as I was about to force myself to drink some, I noticed the "water truck."

I figured I'd give it a try. Since there were plastic cups hanging over the spouts, I didn't immediately pull out my empty bottle. The truck offered two types of water, plain cold and flavored. I took the plain cold which was wonderfully refreshing. And then I filled my water bottle!

And I walked out of the Kotel area and onto my dinner date.

Ladies: Escape The Heat!

I found myself with just too much time on my hands the other day, when I was in Jerusalem. Of course, only later that night did I remember what I should have done and had planned on doing... Well, since I had finished studying Bible/Tanach Al Haperek, the Matan program, with my study group, near Mamilla Mall around 12:30, and had an early dinner date in Piccolino with another friend, it made sense to stay in Jerusalem.

Of course, I wanted to burn as many calories as possible and rev up my metabolism before eating out. The only real problem was the strong summer sun/heat. Of course, I could have just taken a bus to a mall and marched around, but I did not want to spend money.

The Old Jerusalem City Walls beckoned me, and I remembered that it was always much cooler and comfortable in the Old City, so I decided to go there and also pray at the Kotel. By the time I got to the Kotel, after a nice side-trip to our old haunts, where we had lived as new immigrants and newlyweds, I was exhausted, drenched and probably more than a bit dehydrated. The idea of sitting outside under the scorchingly hot early afternoon sun did not seem like a good idea. Luckily I remembered "the room."

On the right side of the wmn's Kotel area you'll see a few steps and a door to a small room. Decades ago, when I was in Israel as a student, I loved to sit there to pray and reflect. The only downside was the size, rather small, and the fact that there always seemed to be a mildew smell to it. But it did seem to be the best option, so I went in. NO SMELL! Also, it wasn't crowded. Since I'm not a "Kotel fan," I had no need to sit close to the Wall. I prefer praying in nearby Tel Shiloh!

"And the biggest surprise by far...*"

On the wall there was an air-conditioner!

So, not only is the Kotel the only place in downtown Jerusalem where women can pray and say Tehillim, Psalms, with dignity, but now we have a "weatherproof" protected room where we can escape the sun, wind and rain.

*Who knows where this line is from?

Succot at the Kotel

Yesterday, as I wrote last night, A Promise is a Promise!, I went to the Kotel. Here are a few of the photos I took. One thing I must say is that the atmosphere in the large ladies section was very nice and peaceful and polite. I'm not a "fan" of the Kotel. I feel much more connected to Gd when at Tel Shiloh, and I plan on going up to Har HaBayit again, Gd willing in the future. But due to the outrageous ban on Jewish Prayer there, it isn't all that fulfilling to go up. 

On Succot I always get sentimental when I see the Kotel's succah, because we used to take the kids for a succah "picnic" every year when they were young. I was sorry to see that there is no longer one giant succah. There are now two in a different location.

I walked my usual route down to the Kotel from Jaffa Gate. It's the way I've been walking since I was a student at Machon Greenberg in 1969.

A Promise is a Promise!

The last time I was at the kotel, Western Wall, quite a few months ago, I found myself speaking to the woman manning the booth that lends scarves to women so they'll cover up for modesty's sake at the holy site. She said that they can always use more scarves. So I offered to bring some. And today I actually did.

She quickly added mine to the pile and graciously thanked me.

After I finished praying and saying Tihillim, Psalms, I walked out, and when I did I looked around to see if someone was wearing one of them.

Yes, I found one! It's the reddish brown. I'm relieved to have finally taken care of it. According to Jewish Law, promised, oaths are very important to keep. I tried to find someone going to the Kotel before Yom Kippur and didn't, so I'm really glad to know that it was done.

Finding Relative on "March of the Living"

On Israel's Memorial Day for Soldiers and Victims of Arab Terror, I went on a search mission at the Kotel, The Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. I had been told that a cousin's granddaughter would be there about 12 noon. Although I'm very close with her mother and grandmother, I don't know this girl at all and had never seen her in person. She knew even less about me, so I sent her a photo of myself, once I made it to the Wall Plaza and started my wait and search.

My family isn't one of those that visits Israel a lot. It's a headline day or year when I hear of someone coming to Israel. Last year was a big year for the family on both sides. One cousin's daughter did an internship, davka, in Tel Aviv over the summer and experience war, which wasn't the plan. Then her parents came for a first time ever trip. After that another cousin's daughter came with her husband and two girls for a wonderful family visit.

And this spring we had our very first March of the Living participant. I kept looking out for her group and took lots of photos to keep myself busy. They were about an hour late, but I did get an opportunity to meet her and talk for a few minutes. These groups a very strict, so I'm lucky that she was there davka the day I study in Jerusalem after my classes were over.

G-d is Great!!!

Reflecting a Bit on My First Aliyah li'Har HaBayit, Ascending The Temple Mount

So far I haven't gotten any pictures of myself on Har HaBayit, but I do have this one of us waiting for permission to enter, taken by Yehuda Glick, a well-known Har HaBayit activist.

photo by Yehuda Glick

Most of us photographed here are from Shiloh, which was the Jewish National and Religious Capital and resting place (location) of the Mishkan, Tabernacle for 369 years. That's before Jerusalem was declared the Capital of the Jewish Kingdom of King David. Rachel Sela of Shiloh leads groups of women, in Hebrew, on the Temple Mount. She kept us fascinated with her explanations of the Holiness and history of the site and how to behave and where it is permitted to go. Afterwards we celebrated with a festive meal in the "Hebron Quarter" which is a section of what is inaccurately known as the "Moslem Quarter." This is where many Jews from Hebron had lived. Please contact me if you'd like to join her.

Nowadays women are as active in the movement to bring more Jewish life and ritual to the Temple Mount as men. But it wasn't always so.

My husband was drafted  by Menachem Ben-Yashar, of Massuot Yitzchak, to the very small ranks of Jews who defied the authorities to go up on the Temple Mount a short time after our aliyah, move, to Israel, September, 1970.  Yes, exactly forty-four 44 years ago.

In those days, there were only men among the activists. Menachem came to speak to my husband about it, not to speak to both of us. It just wasn't a "woman's issue." Actually, it never occurred to me that I, too, should go up. They'd frequently end up being beaten and dragged by the police and even getting stitched up in the Emergency Ward. Obviously, that wasn't my "thing."

my husband's blog banner

Over the decades, things changed, and women did get involved, but I didn't. It wasn't because I disagreed with the rights of Jews to ascend the Temple Mount to pray; I firmly believed and believe that we should be there. A very small portion of the area is of such holiness that we shouldn't enter. And I also believe that it would be better that we do enter and build the Third Temple than allow the Muslim Arabs and Christian tourists to defile it.

Christian tourists enter freely, while we wait.

There's lots of space and rubble, even close to the Holy of Holies where the Muslims built their "Dome of the Rock."

Most of what is today the Temple Mount is the Herodian Extension, which doesn't have the highest level of holiness. What surprised me was how small our restricted area actually is.

I only began thinking seriously about my own aliyah l'Har HaBayit in recent years. My life has been full of other things and politically with other battles. About a year ago, Rachel and I spoke about it, and she was so shocked that I hadn't yet gone up. For younger women, raised in a more feminist time, when women do and learn many of the things men do, it's considered natural for women to ascend to Judaism's holiest spot. I felt rather silly trying to explain why it had taken me so many decades to do what felt so natural once I got up there.

One of the topics she mentioned as we walked around was the holiness of the Kotel, the Western Wall. As readers of my blogs know, I can't relate to the worship of the place and the custom to leave what I call "letters to Santa Claus."

Glimpse of the Kotel while walking up to the Temple Mount

Rachel pointed out that the "Western Wall" which Chazal, our Sages, refer to is not that Herodian built  outer wall, but the western wall of the Temple Courtyard.

Today that holy wall no longer remains. The holiness of the popular Kotel is the same as for any Jerusalem synagogue. And when praying there, we must turn slightly to the left to face the Kodesh Kodeshim, Holy of Holies.

Two final points to finish this post:

• I am very glad that I finally ascended The Temple Mount. It felt right and good to do so.
• But I'm outraged with every fiber of my body and soul that it is forbidden for Jews to pray there by the State of Israel!

Family Time Touring, Yes, Suitable for the 9 Days

My cousin and his wife have actually come to Israel for the first time. After lots of indecision and discussion they got on the plane and came. I spent two days with them.

In Jerusalem we went to the Old City, including the Kotel.

And then, after lunch, we went to Yad Veshem.

I'm not the greatest of tour guides. So the next day my daughter joined us, and we trekked up to Haifa to meet my uncle's officer from the time he had been one of the American volunteers on the illegal immigrant ships. Uncle Izzy was the "Pharmacist Mate," aka "the doctor" for ships filled with thousands of Holocaust survivors on their way to the Land of Israel.

Then we went to the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum where we walked around and got a more complete idea of his contribution to the State of Israel.

By car it was a short (just two hours) ride from Ofra, plus picking me up in Shiloh to Haifa, but with traffic and all it took me almost double to get back home by bus via Jerusalem. At least I had time to eat some soup before the Tisha b'Av fast and brush my teeth.