Wednesday was a pretty slow day for us, as we woke up late, dozed around for a while, and went to get groceries. Our main goals of the day were to find the Masorti (conservative Judaism) synagogue that Chelsey had contacted so we would know where to go on Yom Kippur. Another goal was to plan a hiking trip for Thursday. One hike we were thinking about was one that ended at the Sorek Caves, an awesome stalagmite and stalactite cave that I have visited before that Chelsey read about in her guidebook. When I went to Israel on a USY trip the summer after my junior year in high school, we went on a fun hike that ended at that cave, so I figured there was a chance I could find information on the route. Unfortunately, it seems like our best option for finding information about tough hikes is to get a book at some hiking store, or to hire a guide. From my experience, many of the Israeli trails are well marked, but are also abstract and require good navigational skills. Instead of an actual trail, many hikes traverse through open areas, rocky hills, and desert, and you have to keep a lookout for the trail markers.
When it seemed unlikely that I was going to find enough information to plan a hard hike, I decided to type "easy hiking near Jerusalem" (or something to that effect) into google. Having internet in the apartment is so helpful! I found a site that listed several hikes that were just a short bus ride away, specifically for tourists like us, who would find wilderness hiking very difficult, especially for our first hike of the trip. I jotted down a few notes: which bus we had to take, where to get off the bus, etc. Then it was time to scope out the synagogue!
The synagogue was connected to the youth hostel that I stayed at for part of my one-month USY trip, so I recognized the area, and decided we should walk through a park nearby as a shortcut back to our apartment. The park was filled with waterfalls and streams, a new development since my stay in that area five years before. Our route brought us through a street full of shops and restaurants, one we had not yet seen despite its close proximity to our apartment. One of the shops had a "yad" with fingers similar to the one Chelsey's dad made! There were many modern looking Hannukiot (Hannukah Menorahs), paintings, sculptures, tapestries, and more! One of our favorites was a collection of intricate cutouts mounted on white paper and framed.
After venturing further down the street we came across a puzzle shop, and decided to pop inside to see what they had. The shopkeeper was a man in his 20s, and he showed us a few puzzles to try. He was completely silent as we worked, playing with a puzzle of his own, quietly enjoying our struggle to complete what looked like seemingly easy tasks. Chelsey worked on trying to put together a chessboard, using broken pieces of 4-7 squares each. I was given some trapezoidal shapes to fit inside a box. I wasn't able to solve mine without a hint, and neither Chelsey nor I could solve the chess puzzle. We left the store frustrated, puzzled, and with our minds turned inside-out. I won't be surprised if we visit that shop again.
Later that evening, we decided to venture down the Me'ah Sha'arim neighborhood. Falafels in hand, we walked towards the Old City for several blocks, before walking a couple blocks north and backtracking through Me'ah Sha'arim. There was a drastic change between the two halves of the trip. On the way there, everything looked relatively secular, and there was a healthy mix of people, some with the black hat/black coat attire, and many without. On our way back, just a couple blocks parallel to our walk there, it looked like we were in a different country. All the males were dressed in a black hat, black coat, black pants, and white shirt, peyos (earlocks) swinging while they walked. The women had more variety, but they all dressed modestly, most wearing long skirts that went to their ankles. We made sure not to hold hands walking down the street, with respect to the "shomer negiah" observing residents, and also to avoid jeers and dirty looks. According to the laws of "shomer negiah" men and women are not allowed to touch in any way, unless they are married. Those who observe these laws don't shake hands with a member of the opposite sex, and are careful not to touch when handing an object to the other. One prime example of this was on the bus back from hiking on Thursday, when a woman asked a man to move to a different seat, so she didn't have to sit next to him and risk their arms or legs accidentally coming into contact. In fact, some buses in Israel are even segregated, and women have to sit in the back.
Anyway, back to Me'ah Sha'arim. After weaving our way through the crowds of briskly walking people, we came across several Etrog (citron) stands, and bought 2 unkosher Etrogim for five sheqels apiece. The kosher ones were too expensive, and we figured that we'll have many chances to shake the lulav/etrog with a kosher one elsewhere. We just wanted them for jam anyway, and after all, an etrog that is unkosher for shaking is still kosher for eating.
Walking through the most religious Jewish part of the world was certainly an eye-opening experience, and Chelsey and I will make sure to take a few pictures when we return there in the daytime.
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