Motzi Shabbat in Jerusalem

We took a little walk in downtown Jerusalem after Shabbat got out tonight. We ran into some of my American colleagues from the chaplaincy delegation that is here and one of them was kind enough to snap this pic of us.

Shabbat afternoon we walked to the Old City and to the Kotel (Western Wall). It was kind of on the warm side, but really just beautiful weather. On the way to the Old City, we stopped in Independence Park for a bit and heard a boy of about 9 complain angerly to his parents about their choice of a place for their picnic -- "אתם ממש פריירים! (you are real freiers) for picking such a spot when there is a one with more shade and nice water over there," he cried. Freier is a yiddish word that roughly translates as sucker or rube; some say it is an Israeli obsession to not be a freier.

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Before we ran into my friends, Minna got a sugar-free ice cream -- I think she looks like she's enjoying it so much in this pic that she could be in an ad for it!!! (I had a taste and have to admit it was a lot better than diet ice cream I've had in the States!)

From Israel Spring 2010

Here and there

So far in these few days in Israel, I am enjoying all the things I expected to enjoy: the smell of the jasmine, the papery magenta glory of bouganvillea, the nervous-making challenge of speaking Hebrew and, of course, eating bourekas and drinking cafe hafuch! There are also tangible things I don't quite know how to put into words: the pungent smell of an unidentified plant that rises into the nostrils as the sun heats the soil on the many gravelly paths around Jerusalem, the odd slickness of the paving stones under my sandaled feet.

But one thing that's very present for me on this short-but-sweet trip is that there are lots of things I could do to connect with Israel (and especially with its Hebrew-language culture) from anywhere but find myself not doing. For example, from a technical perspective, there's nothing that stops me from reading Israeli newspapers online from Boston or Reading or one of the many wifi-enabled rest stops between the two. In particular, Ha'aretz has a book review section on Wednesdays that I know I find an especially enjoyable challenge. But, sitting here in Tmol Shilshom (a bookstore, cafe, happening spot here in the center of Jerusalem that I never know how to get to except by wandering around til I find it), drinking espresso, enjoying the other tourists and regulars, I find myself actually poring over a book review in Hebrew for the first time in months.

It's interesting to me that all the technological advantages of being alive today still can't compete with the phenomenon of "out of sight, out of mind." Connecting with Israel and its people still requires the work of setting a kavannah (intention) and also of setting a priority in terms of how I structure my time. For that matter, I could do a better job of keeping in touch with people here. So, the question I leave open for myself is this: Given that --even in the States-- I am much better at paying attention to the people and the tasks that are right in front of me than I am at remembering who and what else exists in the world, how best to find ways to set Israel and Hebrew before me consistently enough that the thread is not entirely broken in the months (and probably years) away?

Can I take comfort in the fact that I am not alone and that Jews who live far from here have often worried about the tendency to forget? When the psalmist writes: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither, let my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy" (Psalm 137), I hear not only longing, but a real concern about forgetfulness. Knowing my own tendencies, I don't dare make any such vows. But I do want to leave this potential for forgetting open as a place for further inquiry.

I laugh at your parking ticket!

Well, actually, despite Minna's apparent bravado, we just paid it.

In the old days, you had to wait in line at the post office to pay tickets (which is what the rental car people still told us we would have to do), but it turns out that you can just go pay them online.

Minna's been seeing old friends and going to museums while I've been attending the spiritual care conference.

Tomorrow we'll be in Tel Aviv relaxing and then it's back to Jerusalem for Shabbat and then, before you know it, we're back on a plane to the States -- short trip!

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Here's Minna, by the way, driving down the streets of Jerusalem (along with a link to some more pics from the trip):

From Israel Spring 2010

Getting back to the land -- care for the caregivers

That's the Mediterranean sea behind those two bleary-eyed (but happy!) faces above. Minna and I were just an hour off the plane at Ben-Gurion in Tel-Aviv. I'm here for the 6th annual Israel spiritual care conference (it's so great to see professional chaplaincy start to get established here in Israel!). Minna came along as part of a long-term ambition for our lives together -- to make coming to Israel a regular part of what we do and not something that only happens every decade or so. I was so excited over the last week or so, thinking about coming here and often found myself daydreaming about walking along the streets of Jerusalem again and hearing the language of the Hebrew Bible spoken out of the mouths of children as their first language. Coming here is a way of my caring for my own spirit.

I'm looking forward to the conference, too, tomorrow and Wednesday. There's a delegation of Clinical Pastoral Education supervisors from the States here for the conference, so this could really be a watershed event for chaplaincy training in Israel, an educational pursuit that is only in its infancy here.

It's exciting!

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Here's a view, by the way, of the ocean from where we drank some coffee after we dipped our toes in the sea.

From Israel Spring 2010

[x-posted t0 abayye]