Rachel and I went to Jerusalem this Wednesday. This is still high holy week so there are extra security restrictions and more people around. The drive from Ashkelon to Jerusalem takes about one and a half hours. Near the end Rachel had to pee so badly and we could not find a gas station or restaurant. I spied a yellow VW bug and yelled punch buggie yellow. Rachel was not pleased that I was looking for punch buggies while her bladder was screaming at her.
When you drive during holy week you are not allowed to get anywhere near the old city you need to park and take a shuttle. The first worry was that the shuttle names were only in Hebrew so we were a little worried about how we would get back to Ammunition Hill. Ammo Hill was some hill that the Israeli paratroopers won a battle. We find the bus, but the writing is in Hebrew. This might be an issue later.
The bus drives around the city between the Mount of Olives and the old city. We can see the many tombs and graves covering the mount of olives. We enter Jerusalem through the Dung gate. The dung gate enters the city right near the western wall. There is a long line to get through security. The line is actually segregated between men and women. There are MANY MANY Hasidim Jews in their different hates and black suits. A young man in a black hate pulling a suitcase tells me that it is a Mitzva to drink four glasses of wine at the end of passover. You can get to paradise faster.
After security the lines merge and Rachel and I find each other. Now you have to wait in another line to get to the Western Wall, and again the sexes are separated. I knew from experience that you need long pants and a hat for a male and a skirt and a head covering for a woman to enter the holy site. Rachel and I were prepared.
The woman’s side is not equal to the man’s it is roughly one third the size. The woman go up to the wall, pray and then back away from the wall without turning. Often there are chairs or other woman that the bump into and nearly fall over. Rachel moved some chairs out of the way of other women.
The men’s side includes a air conditioned cave. I made my way into the cave. Making my way into the cave was difficult because there was not clear traffic flow. Some were coming, some going and some just standing and praying. A claustrophobic person would not like this place. There were many men bowing there head singing the Torah. Near the middle were a group of men singing together and chanting, chanting and then saying Amen together. Other men were sitting on plastic chairs with a book propped on a stand, and others were begging.
At the beginning of the cave was a man with a white button-down shirt, black skull cap and a baby carriage pleading for alms. Next was a young skinny in a black suit and a black fedora standing and accosting me for shekels. In the middle was a old man with long white hair and a furry tire hat 2 feet wide shaking a cup. I found the begging to be very distasteful. I thought it was a desicration on a holy site. I could only think about Jesus and the money changers.
I left the cave, it was blazing hot out, nearly 95 degrees. I found a place on the wall, laid my head and prayed. I left the men’s section, met Rachel near the Israeli flag and we went further into the city in search of the Holy Sepulchre.