The Jump to J-town

Sukkot has meaning for every Israeli. Contrary to the name "feast of booths," Sukkot looks nothing like your average eighth grade science fair or city international sampler food festival. Instead, both secular and religious Israelis get off their tahat and go eat outside in the sukkah. For many Israelis, "getting out" means even more: they get out of class (basically, a "fall break" for a week), get out of the city (travel north to go hiking or take part in one of many festivals occurring during the week), or get out of the country (what better way to spend a Jewish holiday than to sunbathe on the Black Sea with Romanians, Bulgarians, and Turks as part of your $400 Israir holiday vacation package?).

We chose something a bit different: we went east, well, to Jerusalem. Waking up in the wee hours of the morning (8 AM in Israel--I love this place!), one immediately notices a different demographic at the train station (pictured below).


Soldiers, who can be seen everywhere in the country since Israel has a mandatory service requirement for Jewish young adults, commonly use public transportation to get to work all expenses paid for by the government. In this picture, they await the northbound train in Herzylia to head to bases farther north. Note: in explaining the mandatory service requirement, in no way do I intend to minimize the contentious exemptions provided for yeshiva-bound religious Jews, who risk their lives to protect the state of Israel by studying Torah all day in a dark room, or conscientious objectors, who must object to the concept of a military and not just serving in the shtechim (territories) to be eligible for exemption without repercussion. Few things in this part of the world are without complexity and controversy.

The train ride to Jerusalem was scenic, clean, and quiet--a great way to travel in Israel compared to other forms of public transportation. The unique problem with taking the train to Jerusalem, compared to using it to get elsewhere in Israel, is that one must switch trains at Bet Shemesh and, thus, take more time to get to Jerusalem than using roadways. The train travels on historic old tracks that curve around both massive hills and avoid entering what was then Jordanian territory farther south. When someone first mentioned Bet Shemesh to me, I was quite confused and thought she said Bet Shemush, which translates literally to "house of use" and happens to be another term for bathroom. I thought it was a funny name for a town until I realized I was the only one laughing. Then again, I was the only one laughing during Superbad in the movie theater since none of the Israelis seemed to understand the ridiculously funny things the main high school protagonists would say throughout the film.

Jerusalem, always fascinating, did not disappoint during this visit during Sukkot. We coursed our way through a brand new outdoor shopping center outside of Jaffa Gate (Joan Rivers might as well be standing at the gate saying, Who are you wearing to the Western Wall, darling?) and into the shouk of the Old City. Tourists abound in the shouk ready to purchase touristy merchandise. Fascinatingly, politics plays more of a role for tourists than for sellers, who are merely looking to make a living for their families based on what people will buy; note that this shop offers everything from "Free Palestine" to "America: don't worry, Israel is behind you."


The Kotel (Western Wall) was packed full of people to celebrate Sukkot, including haredim, secular Jews, Modern Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews (at least 1), Reform Jews, Reconstructionist Jews, and a very large group of Beta Israel (Israelis of Ethiopian descent). Upon encountering such a spiritual center to one's religion, many describe a sensation of awe. We, too, felt a grand internal sensations but given the growling, it seemed to be emanating from our stomachs. We then left the Kotel and walked to the spiritual center of Israel's literary elite: Tmol Shilshom. Some of Israel's most famous authors have been known to frequent this historic site to sip coffee, nosh on a sandwich, and soak in some inspiration from the environment. Hey, they get hungry, too.

After lunch, we made our way through the scenic neighborhood of Yemin Moshe that overlooks the old city as well as the rolling hills of the West Bank beyond the (please choose term based on your stance) "security fence/separation wall" (pictured below) to Emek Refaim, where we sipped coffee among English-speaking American-Israelis discussing a progressive approach to contemporary Judaism (oddly enough, a rare find in Israel outside of this "Jewish hipster-intellectual" neighborhood).


We headed back to Kikar Tzion and Ben Yehuda to walk around as we awaited our dinner reservations at Darna. Darna likely represents the best kosher Moroccan restaurant in the world and comes complete with authentic ambiance and extraordinary cuisine. To walk off dinner, we made one last run through this holy city's surprisingly lively night scene and flagged down a sherut to return home to Tel Aviv. There, we celebrated the "festival of sleeping" (not a Jewish holiday but still a favorite of mine).