Act IV - In the Eye of the Storm

Today was a quintessential Melton day that included psalms, poems of 12 century Spanish poet, Yehuda haLevi, modern poetry of Yehuda Amichai, Arab poetry and the poetry of Soweto.  All of this in support of Act IV - In the Eye of the Storm...Is Jerusalem "as a city joined together?" Studying about Jerusalem is so complicated.  For me, on an emotional level, there is no place else on the planet that touches my heart the way Jerusalem does.  On the other hand, the move of the city more and more toward Haredi way of life is quite upsetting...and all of the Palestinian issues just make it impossible to get a handle on it. This city of 15 languages with 7 alphabets defies understanding. There is a bit of clarity about it all when I am thousands of miles away, but when I am here immersed in it, it makes less sense than ever.

After the Israeli's took the city in '67, Moshe Dayan recommended that they tear down the walls of the old city.  He believed that they could never truly integrate the city with the walls still up and the quarters assigned. Of course he was voted down, but one wonders if that might have helped.

We did some study in Liberty Bell Park (fortunately the weather has broken and there is a nice, cool breeze) and then a field trip through Southern Jerusalem.  On Hevron Road, we passed the checkpoint to Rachel's tomb.  I've always wanted to go there, but have been told that you can't get through.  What I found out today is that Israeli citizens can't go through, but foreign nationals can.  I'd like to try and go next time I'm here, but am not sure it will be easy to arrange. 

Just by chance when we were sitting and studying, a friend of our educator's came by and ending up speaking with us.  It turns out that he is the Director of Programming for AIPAC in Israel.  While I don't always agree with AIPAC's position on things, it was quite amazing to be able to spend some time with this guy in a small group setting.

On a very positive note, we read today that the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the government must provide funding for Reform and Conservative conversion classes and processes.  Of course, we know this won't be the end of the story, but each of us was happy to learn of this small step.

We ended our day in the Old City - first with a study session on the roofs of the city (it is so crowded, that the roof tops are used as alternative pedestrian routes) and then on our own. 

We had dinner and the evening on our own. After a quick work out and shower, I just went to the hotel coffee shop.  Several others from the group ended up there too and we had great fun people watching.  Haredi couples will frequently meet at the big hotels on their arranged dates since it is a public place, but a nice atmosphere.  We saw about 6 couples - and one in particular we agreed were liking each other quite a bit. It was fun to be part of that energy.

Up to my room in time for the 4th quarter of game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals - another exciting ending with Orlando pulling ahead with only 14 seconds left in the game.  And so I fell asleep to Marv Alpert and Doug Collins making their final comments.

End of Act IV