THURSDAY, JULY 9
Mandelbaum Gate is a former checkpoint between Israeli and Jordanian sectors of Jerusalem, just north of the western edge of the Old City along the Green Line.
Ammunition Hill. A key battleground during the Six Day War.
REFLECTIONS by STACEY ROCKMAN
I think sometimes about what it is that I love about Israel. I love being here. I love the sights and the sounds and the smells (even the bad ones!) Today, however, I had an experience that is so typically Israel that it really sums things up. I was in the “Super” (market) buying food for Shabbat and hopefully enough for the next few days. In front of me was a man in his mid to late 60s with very few items but speaking animatedly on the phone- for a very long time. The cashier and I looked at each other and shrugged. Finally the man asks- what are you waiting for- and she told him- for you to pay. He apologized and said he was on the phone with his mother. She asked how old she is and he said 100. He said she spends some time in and out of hospitals because of her age. The cashier asked how her mind is and he said better than his or hers. She then said I hope she does well and feels well and he said well- in this world or the world to come. And he was on his way. People here are pushy. They can seem rude because they are forceful and speak their minds. But- it really is one big family. I love being here. I took massive notes and asked a lot of questions before we came. I had never spent real time in Tel Aviv and I have pages and pages of suggestions from people. In the end – we walked until our feet hurt. We wandered into the biggest mall any of us had seen. We saw the sunset on the Mediterranean and swam in it twice. We went to the Palmach museum which made me cry and we wrapped it around with a visit to Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem. I fell in love with Israel in a whole new way. I have always been a Jerusalem person. My friends live here in Jerusalem (including a childhood friend who made Aliyah from Oakey Drive). This is where I spent the year when I lived here. When I see myself somewhere in Israel, it is in the middle of Mahaneh Yehudah, pushing and buying what I want. Being somewhere new, however, changed me again! I now love Tel Aviv. I love that it is Metropolitan, I love that it is on the ocean. I love that it is not black and white (religiously and politically) the way Jerusalem in. I love that I have a whole new Israel to love.
Shopping for Shabbat, you need dessert too.
David, my friend since last year, at his bakery “Marzipan” in Jerusalem…THE best ruggelach and challahs.