10/20 to 10/23 | The Israel Museum, Shabbat, and Relaxing Before School

For the most part, the last three days of Sukkot vacation have been very leisurely.  Between now and the time I come home on January 6, 2012, we effectively have no more days off.  The next ten weeks will be completely dominated by school, meaning not much time for anything else (traveling, family, etc.) except on weekends.  Fortunately, I do not have class on Sunday, so I will consistently have three day weekends throughout the months of November and December.

Thursday was my first day since I got here that I planned nothing for the day.  I woke up around 2:00 in the afternoon, and went to a friend's place for lunch to exchange stories about Eilat.  Other than that, that day was totally devoid activity, which was nice because it allowed me to recharge after such a busy week.  At night, I finally left the Student Village to get a pizza at a restaurant in the French Hill--HaGiva HaTzahrfahteet--neighborhood.  That was the extent of my activity for the day.

Friday was much more interesting than Thursday.  On Friday, I was supposed to wake up early to meet Jacob at the Israel Museum at 10:00 in the morning.  I woke up around 15 minutes before ten because my alarm did not go off in time; when I tried to set the alarm time, I accidentally reset the clock.  So, I dashed out of my apartment and took a bus to a place that I thought would put me somewhere near the Israel Museum in Givat Ram, near the Knesset.  I thought I got off close enough that a taxi would be able to take me there in very little time; however, I must have gotten the worst taxi driver in existence because he was not only clueless about the Israel Museum, but he took me to the Nature Museum instead.  Just for context, this would be like not knowing about the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.  Finally, I got to the Israel Museum where I met Jacob about 45 minutes late.

The Israel Museum is a fascinating place filled with artwork from around the world.  While it is geared towards Judaism and Israel, it also has objects from Asia, Africa, and South America.  Not surprisingly, the Israel Museum is best experienced in pictures, so here are some images from my trip there:

View of the Knesset from the entrance to the Israel Museum.

The ramp in the entrance hall of the Israel Museum.

A wing of the Israel Museum featuring objects of the Jewish life cycle from birth--leeda--to death--mahvet--and everything in between.

Examples of Jewish craftwork.

Jewish dowry items from a wedding.

One of the most fascinating initiatives of the Israel Museum is to save and preserve synagogues--Bahtee Knesset in Hebrew, which literally translates to Houses of Meeting--from around the world.  Through this program, the Israel Museum has deconstructed three synagogues from Italy in Europe, India in Asia, and Suriname in South America and reconstructed them for everyone to see in the museum.  Here is what they look like:

An elegant synagogue from a city in Italy.

A simple synagogue from Cochin, India.

An exotic synagogue from Suriname.  Notice the Caribbean tradition of sand on the ground in front of the Torah ark.

Jewish ritual items from around the world.

The rest of the museum was spent on different variations of art, including classical, impressionist, modern, contemporary, etc.

Although it is hard to see because of the glare, this is an example of early Israeli art.  The couple to the left, representing the strong, proud Jews of the newly formed State of Israel, contrasts with the couple to the right, representing the lives of Jews in the exile.

Israeli soldiers posing to look like Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper.

Early Zionist artwork.

The figure of a large fallen chess piece.

Examples of Buddhist art.

An Example of Hindu art.

The figure of a broken tree branch.

Golda Meir done by Andy Warhol.

There was still so much to see, but it was Friday so the museum closed at 2:00.  Here is the view when exiting the Israel Museum.

A sculpture done by the same artist who did the Cloud Gate (the Bean) sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park.  This is called Turning the World Upside Down.

My and Jacob's reflection in Turning the World Upside Down.

On our way out, I caught a glimpse of the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed.  I was able to see these last summer, but there was no time for them today.

After our day at the Israel Museum, Jacob and I headed back to the Student Village (he was sleeping on our couch that night).  We decided to head to the Kotel for shabbat, where Jeff Seidel could set us up for dinner.  This turned out to be one of the most unexpectedly interesting/weird experiences I have had to date.  For Simchat Torah, we were set up with a religious family, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about them.  This time, however, we were set up with the Jankovits family.  The Jankovits family also lived in the Old City, but that was where the similarities ended.  In their small apartment, they hosted about 30 people of all ages.  Many were yeshiva students, while others were newlyweds.  Most everyone, however, was very messianic, constantly talking about the arrival of the moshiach and the rebuilding of the Third Temple.  It was a bit intense at times with everyone constantly thanking HaShem for the moment, that there would never be another moment like this.  One guy even announced that according to his calculations, the messiah would be here by next Rosh HaShanah!  It was certainly different and the food was good, but I don't think I would go back.  I pride myself on being a proud Jew and strong Zionist, but the messianic talk was way too much.

A good image of how everyone thought at the Jankovits' house.

After dinner, Jacob and I walked back to the Western Wall.  The other night, we noticed an inscription on the upper stones of the wall, so we were determined to find someone to translate the words for us.  After asking a few people, we found a yeshiva student who explained to us that somebody had carved their name there before the Western Wall Plaza was excavated in 1967.  After a bit of discussion, our impromptu guide offered to take us to the Little Western Wall, known as HaKotel HaKatan in Hebrew.  This is a place I had long heard about but never had the opportunity to see.  It is located deep within the Muslim Quarter in a place that is not particularly safe.  The Little Western Wall is an extension of the section of the Western Wall everyone is familiar with today, but it is much closer to the location of the Holy of Holies.  The Western Wall actually runs the length of the Temple Mount, but most of it is covered by buildings in the Muslim Quarter.  HaKotel HaKatan is an exposed piece of wall that resembles the Western Wall prior to 1967, when there was just a narrow road separating the holy site from the adjacent homes.  It was a remarkable experience because it was completely empty, save for a few Arabs that walked by (not giving us the most approving looks).  We did not stay long, but I hope to return soon in the daytime so that I can take pictures.

Today and tomorrow, I will spend most of my time doing homework.  Break has been nice while it lasted, but school has been a long time coming.  Most everyone in the world is on midterms and we are still just starting.  That is what is unique about using the Jewish calendar, where nothing is static and the holidays jump around all over the Gregorian calendar!