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UPDATE:   15 October 2003

Jerusalem, Israel

KOSHER CHEESE
In April 1999, I got to make my first trip to the Middle East. The reason? I had to do a Year 2000 review at a cheese company in Tel Aviv, Israel! (Pretty crazy when you think about it, huh?) I decided to fly in early and spend a few days over in Jerusalem. What an amazing city!

Most of Jerusalem is quite modern -- tall office buildings, cafes and restaurants, hotels, bank machines -- even a kosher Burger King. But the old part, which sits inside the 2000+ year old city walls, is East Jerusalem. It's divided into 4 quadrants: Jewish, Christian, Armenian, and Muslim. Superficially, it's hard to tell when you leave one area and enter the next. The lines are not neatly drawn and there are many cultural similarities, despite the acute religious and political differences.

Photo: Me in front of the Al Aqsa mosque at the Dome of the Rock.

EAST JERUSALEM: THE OLD CITY
The character of East Jerusalem has changed very little in the last 2000 years. The architecture is comprised of box-like beige stone buildings connected end to end with narrow alleyways forming a winding labyrinth that makes map reading pointless. Your mission is to go and wander -- follow the crowds, the music, the smells. All 3 are mesmerizing. You see so many kinds of people -- Hasidic Jews dressed entirely in black, Muslim men and women with only their faces and hands exposed -- and then you see that the young Muslim girls, although covered from head to toe, have jeans peeking out the bottom of their robes.

In the Old City, you see, hear, and smell so many things that it's a sensory overload. Imagine being hot and sweaty, in a narrow alleyway with this view: women are crowded around a cart of fresh olives -- children are scurrying around after a ball -- 3 or 4 men are sitting and talking -- raw [unrefrigerated] meat is hanging from hooks and one piece has a furry tail sticking off it -- fresh spices are in open burlap sacks -- freshly baked pastries are topped with pistachio nuts and oozing with sugar and honey -- flies are buzzing here and there -- you smell Turkish coffee brewing -- a woman is sitting by the wall selling freshly picked onions spread out on a sheet in front of her -- someone says "very special price for nice American tourist" -- a man is rolling crushed chick peas into balls and frying them in a makeshift sidewalk 'kitchen' -- music is blaring from a cracking speaker and it's that funny half singing half wailing kind of music -- you step in a mud puddle -- up ahead you see an opening and walk through it -- you're facing the Dome of the Rock, the 3rd holiest place in Islam, which also happens to be the location of the first and second temple of the Israelites that the Romans destroyed in 70 AD -- the same sight where Jews come every day to pray outside the western wall (also known as the wailing wall) -- the same place where Muslims come to pray on the other side of that wall in the Al Aqsa mosque -- the same sight where Jewish extremists massacred praying Muslims in that mosque just a few years ago -- the sight of the Jewish holy of holies -- the location where, according to both Christian and Jewish tradition, the Messiah will enter the city when he comes [again]... And you begin to have a little insight into the dynamics of life in Jerusalem.

Photo: Muslim shoppers around an olive cart.

CHRISTIAN JERUSALEM
I toured the 'Garden Tomb' which is an area just east of the city walls believed to be the site of Jesus' burial. When the British Government bought and renovated the property in the late 19th century, they found that the site had indeed been a vineyard and garden and they also found one tomb. It matches the Biblical description to an amazing degree of detail. So if it was not where Jesus was buried, then it is certainly a good example. About 100 yards from the garden is a cliff with an outline that bears an uncanny resemblance to a skull -- it is believed to be Golgatha, the place where Jesus was crucified. This cliff and the garden tomb are next to the road to Damascus, a favorite spot for Roman crucifixions, given that the public killings were supposed to encourage others to submit to Roman rule. Being in Jerusalem, at the juxtaposition of all these things, was really overwhelming.

All these places are now real to me: The Garden of Gethsemene is sort of on the bottom of the hillside of the Mount of Olives, which is just outside the eastern walls of the city. The little 5 minute walk that separates the Mount of Olives/Garden of Gethsemene from the city is called the Kidron Valley. I always thought the Kidron Valley was a big expanse, but it's about as wide as a football field is long. Just south of the city wall is a neighborhood called the City of David. And just to the west of the city wall is the Valley of Sinners, also known as Gehenna or Hell, and according to Jewish belief, the place where the damned will be sent when the Messiah comes. (I have to tell you that 1. It's not big enough to accommodate the incoming arrivals, and 2. It does seem harsh -- it has an amphitheatre and Bob Dylan once played there -- just so you know what you're in for.)

Photo: Coptic priest reading.

CUISINE
The cuisine was amazing. I took the advice of my guidebook and stuck to the street vendors instead of more formal restaurants. Having a western definition of 'clean', I know I boosted my immune system in this process -- you really don't want to know... I tried fallafel (mashed, fried chick peas), warm pita bread, hummus (mashed chick peas with olive oil and spices), lamb kebabs, lamb sausage, and several things that I couldn't identify. But it was all great! The only glitch was getting a fallafel sandwich from a street vendor... I took a bite and had 2 simultaneous and conflicting thoughts: "Man, this is good...and... I think I am going to puke." Maybe it was the combination of the sun, the unusual aromas from the market, the unusual nature of the food itself, and a little dehydration...? But aside from that, it was really neat to try the true local cuisine.

Photo: A mural on the wall of a church built on one of the many spots in Jerusalem where Jesus was thought to have ascended into Heaven.

MY OVERALL CONCLUSION
Definitely on the top of my list! The people were incredibly friendly. Everyone, whether Jewish, Muslim or Christian, truly wanted me to love their city. I had many informal 'tour guides' -- people of all ages eager to show me the sights. I trusted them, followed them, talked with them, and left Jerusalem with more faith in humanity than I started with.

KIM'S LIST OF THE BEST OF ISRAEL

RECOMMENDED SIDE TRIPS
The old port at Jaffa is really neat. (This is where Jonah set sail just before being swallowed by the whale). And Herzliyya -- a Mediterannean beachfront resort town just north of Tel Aviv -- was incredible! Gorgeous beaches, super hotels and restaurants -- I have no idea why I left.

Photo: View of the Mediterranean sea from my hotel balcony in Herzliyya.

peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and i wish we may be permitted to pursue it | thomas jefferson
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