a hodgepodge of things

in addition to the birkat hachama last wednesday, today was the birkat kohanim. it is a massive ritual blessing at the kotel. each year thousands flock to the wall on the intermediate days of pesach to be blessed by a convocation of kohanim, judaism's hereditary class of priests. this tradition is normally conducted at people's respective worship place but the kotel as a location has been around since temple eras. the kohanims' chant, "may the lord bless you and keep you; may the lord shine his countenance toward you and be gracious to you; may the lord lift up his countenance toward you and give you peace." this is chanted over the tallit-shrouded believers, raising their hands in praise.

picture courtesy of jerusalem.com

furthermore, spring should be around the corner but the weather today was pure summer. maybe it was the weather in conjunction with the thousands of people milling around jerusalem today. it was a nice sight to see after all the quietness in the beginning of pesach. there were tourists from other places, some making a pilgrimage to the churches around jerusalem for easter sunday service. and then there were the israelis escaping their homes for the vacation. the central bus station was crammed with tents, coolers, sleeping bags, IDF, etc.

i was out and about the entire day, getting a good dose of sun. i went to mt. zion as it is one of the places on my list. here is the tomb of david, the last supper room, the church of dormition, oskar schindler's grave, and the church of st. peter in gallicantu. i visited the first three. mt. zion is not too far from zion gate and i was surprised by the close proximity. the tomb of david appeared to be one of the many prayer sites in jerusalem. there is a partition to create room for women space and men space. there wasn't much to see as there were many people reading their prayer books. so i went in search of the last supper room. the lonely planet guide can be misleading sometimes and the people milling about can be misleading too. i don't think i saw the 'actual' room but it is a nice place. what else can i say about it? nothing more than davinci's last supper is rather a figment of his imagination... because the room doesn't look anything like that. anyways. my last stop in mt. zion was the church of dormition. this is the traditional site where the virgin mary died, or 'fell into an 'eternal' sleep'. the latin name for the church is dormitio sanctae mariae. i have to say that this is one of my favorite churches in comparison to all the others i've seen so far, and i've seen a lot. this might even top church of all nations. the crypt was very peaceful and beautifully constructed. there is a stone effigy of mary in the center with jesus calling his mother to heaven. i don't know if you are aware of this but while jesus ascended to heaven, the virgin mary's is called assumption meaning she needed to be helped physically to reach heaven. take it however you want it.

on an excited note, i'm leaving on a road trip around israel tomorrow morning. i will be going down south to the negev to hike in the mitzpe crater and up north to hike in the woods/rivers and ascend mt. hermon to see into syria and maybe lebanon. and hopefully make it to akko, caesarea, and meggido. but anything that happens will be fun. i am very excited for this. afterwards, i will also hopefully partake in the greek orthodox easter celebration at the holy sepulchre and then be on my way to egypt for a week. AHHH!

jerusalem at night

חג סמח!

it is the holiday season in the holy land. and there is so much to say and i apologize in advance if this post reads a little scatterbrained.

pesach just started and i can already feel its effects in the city. the streets are completely void of people and cars. there is silence in the air as people sit down with their families to remember the time of israelites' imprisonment in egypt. if you know anything about the ten plagues, this is what pesach is all about. the holiday lasts for a week and this is one of the few times many people in israel have a break from work or school. it is also a time when many haredi jews go on vacation so on my travels, i will see black and white clad perons in the negev or the galilee area. pesach is one of the three pilgrimage festivals, along with shavuot and sukkot, which are the three times in which the jews offer up a sacrifice to God. and just like any jewish holiday, pesach involves the family. there is the reading of haggadah, which elaborates the story of enslavement in israel, the ten plagues and the exodus from egypt. along with the story, there is an intricate service, involving drinking of wine, partaking in bitter herbs, and consumming the matzah.

i wasn't able to join a family for the seder dinner so my friend, jonathan, and i decided to spend the holiday together. it was really nice since both of us weren't going to be alone. jonathan cooked a fabulous dinner of salmon steak with sweet curry sauce, vegetables and quinoa, and a nice salad. avi left us a copy of the haggadah so we can partake in the seder service. since we didn't get to eat until midnight (we napped for a long time), we gave up on the story halfway through and made hillel's sandwiches (matzah, haroseth, bitter herbs) and drank the customary four glasses of wine. our own tradition was in the making.

the one thing that makes me weep a little inside is how forlorn the bakeries appear this time. during pesach, no leavened products (חמץ) are consumed and the pesach cookies are so unforgiving. they are made from coconut, eggs and sugar. some have jam and some are covered in chocolate. these cookies are the hardest, nastiest tasting things i've ever eaten. there are no more pitas, breads, rugelach, bourekas... it makes me so sad. there is no more lovely smell of yeast in the air. i'm a little crazy, sorry.

this year, the seder pesach was made extra special because of the birkat hachama (creation of warmth). this is 'sun worship' happens every twenty-eight years. the prayer is said to commemorate the creation of the sun, which supposedly happened on tuesday night/wednesday morning. and because of the way the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun, the exact same point is reached every twenty-eight years. for the prayer service, many flocked to the western wall before sunrise and created a frenzy of voices as the sun rose. while the birkat hachama occurs every twenty-eight and pesach every year, the next time the two will coincide won't be for another five hundred years. so indeed, this pesach is something special.