Jerusalem Old City, Burnt House & Davidson Center

Less than two weeks ago, my Tanach/Bible learning group, aka chevruta, went to a couple of Jerusalem's Old City-- Rova Yehudi-- Jewish Quarter museums. The Burnt House and Davidson Archeological Center, which are extremely different.

First we went to the Burnt House, which is the same sort of "museum" as Plugat Hakotel, which I've visited a few times. Plugat Hakotel is in the building we had lived in when we first made aliyah-- moved to Israel, so it's very special to me. Both museums are located in accurately historic locations and offer a fictionalized versions of what had happened there.

In the Burnt house the movie is in Hebrew, English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and French

Davka, both museums write it up as a young man's story to help people identify with the history. The big difference is the eras when the stories happen, the Burnt House a couple thousand years ago and Plugat Hakotel close to a hundred years ago. Heroism is idealized, of course, which is good. 

The Burnt House is comfortable and recommended for those who can't walk easily, since you sit to watch the movie.

After the Burnt House we walked to the Archeological Garden Davidson Center, which can best be described as a "mixed bag." First with the good things. We took the tour led by a very charming young lady. Yes, there's a lot of walking and steps, so if you or some of your group isn't up to it, find out about an easier version. There are indoor parts of the tour which would be much easier, but we all managed quiet well. You can also do the tour on your own, following the instructions they'll give you when you pay and enter.

We walked around a section of the Kotel, Western Wall of the Temple Compound and around to the Southern Wall. It's all so majestic. Our guide explained why the building stones are so different in the same wall, the time periods and the builders.

We were mesmerized by the views and the stories. Luckily we were all up to the walking and steps. 

Following our guide, we ended up inside the archeological museum where there were movies, mostly short and one longer. One movie explained the significance of the seven branched menorah, but they made a mistake. They started off correctly saying that the seven branches were for the seven days of the week, but they got the days wrong. they stated that the middle, tallest branch was Wednesday, the fourth day of the wee, but that's wrong. The middle branch is for Shabbat, the most important day of the week.

Judaism has Shabbat at the center of the week. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday one prepares for Shabbat, and then Sunday, Monday and Tuesday one "cleans up" from Shabbat and can make the Havdala prayer, which ends one's observance of Shabbat. I checked this out with a rabbi friend, who said that I'm correct. I'm surprised that the mistake hadn't been caught and corrected soon after the museum reopened a few years ago.

We followed our guide further and I can't imagine going through this museum without a guide...

Then we got to the movie they had about Jerusalem which I remembered from my visit soon after the Davidson Center had reopened. I was very upset with the movie then and even more so this visit. 

The best way of describing it is that it's a "woke" version of the history of Jerusalem, intentionally masking and confusing the timeline, history of the city to give the impression that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have been around in the same timeframe. 

The truth is very different. Judaism began about two thousand 2,000 years before Christianity. The Jewish Bible begins its story almost six thousand 6,000 years ago. Christianity is barely two thousand years old, and Islam began about five hundred years later.

The Jewish People were ruled by Jewish Kings in Jerusalem and had two Holy Temples there before either of those religions even began. 

I was terribly disturbed by the sections about Islam. They were like knives in the back. It's clear that whoever wrote the screenplay for that section has an agenda, and it's not a good one. As you can see here, an Arab man and boy are playing chess. The man is showing the boy how to win. There's no actual history; it's sneaky at best. The more I think about it, the angrier I get. There was no need at all to add it. It doesn't relate to the rest of the movie in any way. Jerusalem isn't even mentioned in the Koran. It's political, anti-Israel and anti-Jewish.

I hate to end this blog post in such a negative way, because I really did enjoy most of my time in the Davidson Center.

Kosher for Passover Lunch in Jerusalem

The other day when we were in the Old City of Jerusalem, part of the plan was to have lunch out. We needed a kosher for Passover no kitniyot certified restaurant. At first we thought that we'd have to walk back out and either go to one of the restaurants in Mamilla Mall or Nachalat Shiva. I dreaded the usual lines and jacked up special Kosher for Passover prices. But then we noticed a small, modest looking restaurant with all of the required kosher certificates in full view.

It was the Holy Cafe, on Tiferet Israel Street in the Jewish Quarter. They had tables under shade umbrellas outside, but we requested to sit indoors. And within a minute a table for four was set up for us. By the time we finished our lunch, lots of other diners were also seated around tables indoors.

The menu was simple, but we all found something to eat.

My husband and I had the Tuna Salad. It wasn't bad, but I should have asked for olive oil. They also served us those "potato starch rolls," which could almost pass for regular white bread. The menu had promised that they would come with butter, but there wasn't any. I decided not to ask for the butter, since we're all trying to keep our weight down. Don't worry. The next day I made up for it and had much too much butter with matzah when picnicking with friends. 

The plastic cutlery looked "real," until you touched it.

Our companions had the quiche, broccoli, and the "Geek," sic Salad, which was the typo for Greek. You'd think that somebody would have the common sense to proofread the menu before printing it.

Since we don't know what their regular prices are, we don't have any idea if the Passover ones were higher. Portion size was nothing special, which meant that we didn't stuff ourselves. We're all big eaters, so not a drop of food was leftover. We didn't order dessert, even to share.

I don't know what other restaurant options there were nearby. We didn't notice any. Yes, I'll recommend it if you want a nice simple meal. Even when the main indoor area filled up, it wasn't noisy. We could hear each other easily, which is important for me. And I'm glad we didn't have to fight the crowds. If you know more about this little spot, please let me know in the comments, thanks.

Passover/Pesach Visit to Jerusalem

Yesterday we met with cousins in Jerusalem. The plan was to go to the new Plugat Hakotel Museum in the former Maon Betar, Old City Jerusalem, where we had lived for almost a year after making aliyah in 1970. But when we got there we discovered that too many other people had the same idea. It's a very small museum, and you have to reserve a specific time slot to see the exhibits and movie. Since we're all retirees, we decided to do it another time.

Instead we found a place for lunch and just walked around a bit. Jerusalem was full of visitors from near and far.  We made our way out of the Old City through Mamilla Mall and then to the lobby of the Jerusalem Waldorf Astoria, where we sat and chatted. After that we made our separate ways.

Here are some photos: