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No One Belongs Here More Than You

Perhaps Rochel Miller put it best in her song entitled Yerushalayim. The song opens up with the following words: How can I write of the things that I think if you cant understand what I mean? And how can I sing the words that I feel if you havent been there you cannot believe its real. So how does one begin telling of a place that is close to his/her heart, yet distant and foreign to another? Its a feat which is just about impossible, and so, I will therefore not to attempt to tell you what I feel nor think, but rather, what I know. So on to bigger and better stuff, like what there is to do in Israel. The number one stop would have to be the Kottel, the Western Wall. A Jew cannot go to Israel without seeing the Kottel, and so this is bound to be your first stop. I cant and wont tell you how you should or will feel - each person has his/her own experiences and feelings of emotion, so just head on over there and experience it for yourself. After a good prayer at the Kottel, you can head on over to the outskirts of the Muslim Quarter and register for the Ateret Kohanim tour. This tour takes you through the four quarters of the Old City: the Muslim Quarter, the Armenian Quarter, the Christian Quarter, and of course, the Jewish Quarter. The main highlight of this tour is the Tunnel Tour, which is a tour of the underground tunnels and excavations of the Kottel. Until nearly two years ago, this tour started and ended at the same point, until the light at the end of the tunnel was discovered, when the Israeli government allowed for the opening of this tunnel on the other side, which just so happened to have been the Muslim Quarter and naturally created a bit of chaos for a short while. These tunnels are called Minharot HaKottel HaMaaravi. By the time this tour is over, youre bound to be famished, but never fear - Bonkers is always near. Bonkers is the famous bagel shop that has attracted every American tourist, giving them a taste of what they are used to. Bonkers keeps popping up in various different locations. At present, they can be found in the Old City, Meah Shearim, Har Nof, three of them conveniently located in town, and of course, the baking factory located in Talpiot. Bonkers has a variety of bagels and spreads and not to mention an entire selection of baked goods. Now if youre already in the Jerusalem area, you might want to check out some of the local spots. Lets begin with the Old City. Located right at the Jaffa Gate is the Tower of David Museum, or Migdal Dovid. On Saturday nights, they even have a special light show which you can see. In addition, just outside of the Zion Gate, on Mt. Zion, where the Diaspora Yeshiva is located, nearly out of view is the Dmei Achicha Museum which commemorates the various persecutions the Jews have experienced outside of Israel. Some remnants of books are displayed and many plaques with the names of families and towns that perished in these persecutions are also displayed. There are various other sights to see in the Old City, if you walk around, youll see many of them such as the remnants of the Churva Synagogue, the city walls of the first Temple period, the Heritage House, the Aish HaTorah building (the Kottel Camera and all) and many other sights of interest, and not to mention many shopping sights of interest. One of the most famous, or rather, infamous places which are a must to see in Jerusalem is the Holocaust Museum, otherwise known as Yad VaShem. This museum features exactly what it sounds like it would, but more. In addition to the facts, details, pictures, objects and videos that are typically shown and displayed at most memorial museums, this museum features something else. In a building on the side there is an entrance, this entrance leads to a dark maze through the building. The building is completely dark, accept for one soul candle in the middle of the room. The room was designed by hundreds of mirrors, which are positioned in a specific way that that one lit candle is reflected by the mirrors one-and-a-half million times, in memory of the million-and-a-half children that perished in the Holocaust. As one walks through this eerie maze, a recording lists the names of those children who perished, their ages, and where they died. Words cannot convey such a feeling and emotion. Back in the outdoors, there is plenty of shopping to do. You can start out in the shuk or Machane Yehuda, if youd like, with an entire array of fresh fruits and vegetables - and dont forget your bargaining skills, remember, he who spent a penny less is the winner. Than of course there is Ben Yehuda which has an entire bazaar every evening, just ask anyone for the pit. In addition, Ben Yehuda has an entire selection of stores to meet your interests, be it tee shirts, personalized towels, ideal gifts for family and friends personalized with a picture, and much, much more. Now if youre relay looking for some action, check out Geulah and Meah Shearim on a Friday, see how the entire Jewish community is bustling around getting last minute things done before Shabbos. Friday is not the most ideal time to go gift shopping, unless you are desperate, the people congestion can relay get you into a jam. However, if you are already in that neck of the woods, let me highly recommend the Brooklyn Bakery Challah and famous Black and White cake; you can find the Brooklyn Bakery in Geulah. Oh yeah, and if youre in Geulah any time around Chanukah, make sure to stop in at Uris Pizza and treat yourself to Uris specialty: Caramel Sufganiot, or Caramel donuts, mmmmmmm. On the topic of food, let me just give you a whole bunch of pointers. For starters, one does not go to Israel and not have both a falafel (a fried chickpea Middle Eastern delicacy served in a pita pocket bread) and an Aish Tanur (an oversized pita without a pocket, which is rolled up) with Shwarma (meat or poultry grilled on a spit and chopped into pieces) from Massive. This is just standard - if you havent had it, you just havent been there. In addition, what most tourists enjoy most is the ability to eat at all of these cool places which they would never dare to go near back in the states. The fact that McDonalds, Burger Ranch, Pizza Hut, Sbarro and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC, if you will) can be found to be kosher in various different areas around Israel makes me think more and more of how we are most definitely assimilating. Gosh, and people called it assimilation when Oreos became kosher here in the states! Enough with the food bit - although its enough to send anyone on the next flight leaving to Israel. On to holier things....like one of my favorite places in Israel: Hebron, the city of our fathers. There are various tours every week leaving from Jerusalem going to both Rachels Tomb, Kever Rachel, and to Mearat Hamachpelah, the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Rachels Tomb is on the way to Hebron, and let me just warn you, if youve been there before, but not recently, youll barely even recognize it. In addition to tours to Hebron, there are occasional tours, for example on the day before the new Jewish month, Erev Rosh Chodesh up North to the graves of some great Jewish leaders. If you dont catch one of these tours, there is a more detailed tour of some synagogues too done by various different tour groups such as Pesach Levy, Gershon Kaufman and Hoffman tours. These tours basically include places such as Tiberias (Teverya), Meron, Safed (Tzfat) and sometimes a breathtaking short hike, or Massada, Ein Gedi, and the Dead Sea (Yam Hamelach). In addition to these tours, there are also tours of Rachels Tomb and of Hebron with a detailed tour - guide and chayal (Israeli soldier) included - of the ancient city of Hebron. Now if youre one of those who relay enjoy doing the hiking bit, let me share with you some of my favorite hikes. My all time favorite one which I do not recommend to anyone who might have a fear of heights is called Har Arbel, or Arbel Mountain. This is located up North in the Golan. The view is breathtaking and the hike is relay awesome, thats if you enjoy having a sense of fear that the next step you take might be your last. Next on the top of my list is the Red Canyon. Now if you are one to appreciate the wonders and beauty of G-Ds creations and marvel at it all, than this one is a must for you. The Red Canyon, located down south on the way to Eilat, just as it sounds, indeed is a canyon which funny enough, happens to be red. Just looking at the canyon itself is enough to put anyone in a state of awe. The colors, designs and shapes of what you are climbing are simply beautiful, one simply wonders how G-D created such a marvelous thing. And finally, the other adventurous hike that made it to the top of my list are the Bar Kochva caves. These are dark caves out in the Judain Dessert right near the new city of Modiim, or Moshav Matityahu, Kiryat Sefer and Chashmonaim, if you will. These dark caves and tunnels seem like innocent little holes in the ground or on a rock or mountain. However, upon entering these openings, one will find themselves within a maze of adventure. There are underground paths which one must crawl through sometimes on hands and knees - or sometimes even flat on the stomach. The best of these caves is one in which you come across a small opening in a wall which you must push yourself through to the other side. After quite a bit of effort, everyone eventually makes it through - even the rather plumper ones. This is where the most awesome part comes in. After squeezing through this seemingly innocent hole in the wall and coming out of the other side, most people tend to go into shock (I love being the first to come out just to see everyone elses reaction as they come out) upon seeing the size of the hole they have just emerged from. Now when I tell you the hole is the size of an average human head, Im over exaggerate - its smaller than that! You dont have to take my word for it - go experience it and see it for yourself! Now Ill conclude with not an actual specific place in Israel, but rather a sight you must see. Where you go to see this is not of importance, although the higher up you are and the clearer the area, the more beautiful and awesome the sight. I am talking about viewing the sunset in the holiest country in the entire world. If you have not seen a sunset in Israel, than youve never seen true beauty at its best. I cant begin to describe it, and there are no words that adequately depict such a scene - yet the memory of it is painted vividly in my mind. With that thought in mind, I leave you with two simple words: JUST GO!

Go get a live view of the Kottel....

Check out the Kottel adorned in snow...

See more pics of Jerusalem in the snow...

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Thanx to LE7G for side pics

Thanx to CPS for the snow & animated Kottel pics