Jerusalem Restaurants

An entire post devoted exclusively to restaurants.  You might think all we have done here is eat.  You're not far off.  There are four reasons for that.

1. My family's life and journals have always revolved around food to some extent.
2. We walk a lot here, so despite our gluttony we are either maintaining or losing weight.
3. We keep Kosher at home, and we don't have all these options.  You have to take advantage of it while you can.
4. The food here was terrible 20 years ago and I was on a student budget besides, and it is amazing now.


NOT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD BUT POSSIBLY WORTH A SPECIAL TRIP

Eucalyptus****   (Yemin Moshe)

Maybe the best restaurant in Jerusalem.  It's a very special dining experience.  You choose 7, 11, or 15 courses, all based on foods from the Bible.  Jacob's Red Lentil Stew, Hyssop, Jerusalem Sage, and more.  And they explain everything to you as they serve it.  Educational culinary fantasy come true.  A truly special meal, almost like the Israeli version of French Laundry.  

Rimon Bistro****

Located just off of Ben Yehuda Street, this is two restaurants in one, a dairy café (which has been there for decades) and a meat bistro.  We were shocked at how good the Bistro was.  I was expecting great location/high prices/mediocre food.  But the menu sounded so good, we just had to go in, and we were rewarded. Karen had a Shepherd’s Pie, I had a steak salad (bite size pieces of Entrecote served on top of a green salad), and my boys had a burger and chicken fingers.  All are dishes were excellent, and they may have been the best chicken fingers and burger we have ever had anywhere.  The burger was ground fresh in the restaurant from high quality steak and flavored with just a touch of Middle Eastern spices.  I was so hoping my boys would get full quickly, and I could devour their meals as well.  Unfortunately, they left me only a little. 

1868****  (King David Street)

This used to be known as the best restaurant in Jerusalem.  It has very high prices, but we had a coupon.  It gets a lot of negative comments on Trip Advisor, but we thought it was terrific.  I had a perfectly spiced beef tenderloin and Karen had sea bass (though not the Chilean Sea Bass we are used to).  They kept bringing out amouse bouches and a granita palette cleanser, and the dessert trio (which included a pot de creme, a mini chocolate souffle, and cookies) was out of this world.  

Tomer’s Bread**** (Hapalmach St or in AACI Building in Talpiot)

This dairy cafe is always hopping.  As the name implies, they have a cornucopia of breads, which can be eaten plain off the rack or used for sandwiche  They also have soups, salads, cheese, olives, and an option to just take a wooden board and put whatever breads, cheeses, and other goodies you want on it.   All these are very high quality, but what makes this place truly special are the pastries, specifically the Coffee Eclairs and the Opera Cakes.  If I see either of these items anywhere in the world, I try them, and these are some of  the best I have ever tasted.  The Opera Cake falls apart a little too quickly, but the flavor explodes in your mouth.  I have had the éclair on multiple occasions (I know, I know); twice it was deeply coffee flavored and the other time a little too bland/creamy.  But when they’re on the only coffee based pastries I have ever had that compare to these come from Payard in New York, and I think these might be even better.

Tzofiya***+ (Iraqi Part of Mahane Yehuda Shuk)
Loved the home cooking feel of this tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the Iraqi part of the Mahane Yehuda shuk.  Pure, Middle Eastern, authentic food with pots boiling on the stove right in front of your face.  We had delicious meatballs with artichokes and an amazing saffron-like yellow rice.  Not a famous place, but a great find.

Papagaio*** (Talpiot)

This is the Kosher version of the Brazilian all-you-can eat steakhouse.  They just keep bringing meat after meat to your table, including:  chorizo sausages (made from beef), Kabob (which is really ground lamb), chicken wings, Spring Chicken, regular chicken, beef braised in beer, liver (flavorful but too rich for my tastebuds),  and, finally, entrecote.  They also bring a variety of salads (beet, roasted sweet potato, a really tangy cole slaw, and one that I couldn’t identify), and a dish of french fries on the side.  Until you flip your table sign from green to red they just keep bringing things to you.  The only thing that prevented me from giving it five stars is that some of the meats are on the fatty side, but all are definitely flavorful.  

Black Bar and Burger***  (Near Mamilla Mall)

Their claim is that they are not only the best burger in Israel, but the best burger in the world.  I wouldn't go that far, but we did like it.  They have a burger sampler which includes a regular burger, a chicken burger (really grilled chicken), and a Popeye burger, which contains nuts and spinach inside.  The Entrecote steak was also really good, and you can have a chocolate syringe for dessert!

Gabriel***
One of the best Kosher steaks ever, a filet mignon (or at least some part of the cow made to resemble a filet) perfectly cooked and with almost no fat.  Unfortunately, that was my brother's meal, and I only got a quarter of it.  My lamb chops were way too fatty--very hard to find the meat.  Karen's moullard (a cross between a Peking and a Moscovan duck) was delicious.  The wine list was unbelievable.  For the true foodie they have things like Kosher foie gras, thought that's not a dish I enjoy.  The service was first class.  Only the lamb chops prevented the 4th star.


Darna***

Gourmet food meets Moroccan Kitsch.  We went during lunch, so we were the only ones there.  I had these Moroccan meat balls with artichoke,which were good, and Karen had meat and vegetable couscous.  The meat on the couscous was super fatty.    The dessert was a cinnamon tortilla like cream thing, sort of a Moroccan Churro which Karen loved.




Sima** (near Mahane Yehuda Market)
Famous Jerusalem grill restaurant, where you can get the mixed grill of various parts of a chicken or cow you wouldn't ordinarily want to eat, I found the food here to be distinctly mediocre.  I had a combined chicken shishlik and lamb kabob dish, while Karen had the Kubeh soup (sort of a Middle Eastern kreplach). The mixed salads, as at most of these types of places, were very good, though.  They included:  lentils, tabouleh, beets, eggplant, carrots, and two kinds of cabbage.

EMEK REFAIM NEIGHBORHOOD

UPSCALE

Joy,***+

Beautiful, upscale restaurant on Emek Refaim.  It has a great continental menu with a middle Eastern flair and something for everyone.  I had a delicious Entrecote in an amazing sauce, and Karen had Duck with caramelized apples.  The only thing that prevents it from getting the 4^th star is that my appetizer, Moroccan style “cigars” stuffed with lamb and almond tasted too much like an egg roll.  The filling was delicious, but the fried dough overwhelmed it.  Also, I have had better desserts elsewhere.  You just pay more for them here.  Overall, though, a really nice place to eat.

Luciana***

Italian food in Israel?  Why not?  Actually, there are many Italian restaurants, most of which are dairy.  This one has all kinds of fish and pasta.  It is “Israelified,” in that some of the ingredients are Middle Eastern.  Karen and I both had pasta.  Mine was in a creamy beetroot sauce and Karen’s was in a mushroom/artichoke type sauce.  There were many other things I wanted to try on their vast menu.

Olive**+
This is a Mediterranean Restaurant on Emek Refaim with a lunchtime special for $48 shekels (roughly $15 U.S. Dollars which includes an entrée and a side dish.  The meal starts with mediocre bread with two outstanding dipping sauces, a creamy garlic and a tomato-based tapenade.  Karen had chicken with a delicious honey-date sauce, and I had a dish that was basically spiced lamb burgers.  Karen’s was great, mine above average but nothing special.  The place had good service and a nice atmosphere.  I liked it, but not enough to warrant a second visit.

Sushi Rehavia**+

Micah and Karen ate at this mixed Asian restaurant without me.  Reports were excellent on Karen’s oshinko and delicate whitefish sushi; Micah enjoyed his avocado and cucumber immensely as well.  They have other Asian foods, but you don’t go to a place called Sushi and not have sushi.

LaBoca***

Latin themed meat restaurant.  Chicken, steak, prepared in forms like paella, fajitas, and with all kinds of spices.  My Paella was huge and pretty good.  My little salad was actually huge, easily a full entree size, and the chicken on top was spiced perfectly.  Karen's soup and veggie fajita were also good, but spicy.

Ryu**+

I’m not a huge Asian fan, but points for the variety.  Egg drop and Won Ton soup, sushi, Pad Thai, and more.  I had a Pad Thai chicken, which was a huge portion.  Karen had two different kinds of vegetarian sushi, including mushroom.    She liked it better than I did.

Buffalo Steak House*

This was a huge disappointment to me.  It’s an American style steakhouse, and they have a “business lunch special,” which includes an appetizer, steak (or another entrée), and a side dish.  The side salad I ordered was just fine, as was the tomato soup, but the sirloin steak was terrible.  It had some decent peppery spices on it, but its texture was chewy to the point where it was almost inedible.  They had other interesting sides like sweet potato mash, but you judge a steakhouse on its steak, and this one was really not good.

CASUAL, BUT NOT INEXPENSIVE

Caffit, Emek Refaim  ****

One of my favorite restaurants so far.  It is another dairy restaurant with huge variety, but almost every dish is creative.  Between my wife and I we had a hearty vegetable soup, sweet potato pancakes, and a mushroom quiche.  All were bursting with flavor.  I also had a really good ice coffee, which was more like a milkshake (as most Israeli “ice coffee” is).  There were so many other things on the menu I wanted to try, a sure sign of success.

Marvad Haksmamim--Magic Carpet***+

This Yemenite restaurant is very Middle Eastern and tons and tons of food.  This is a great value, especially at lunch.  They give you soup (I had vegetable, Karen had lentil), Yemenite flat bread, an entrée, and a choice of two salads.  I had a super tender, super flavorful goulash, and Karen had a grilled chicken breast.  Salads included beets, rice with lentils, falafel, and hummus.  It was one of my very favorite places, but Karen’s chicken was overcooked, so it didn’t get the 4^th star.

Burgers Bar ***+

This is the kind of place I dream about and crave.  It has thick, juicy burgers, and you can add things like roasted red peppers, mushrooms, an egg, and a variety of sauces, some American like, some spicy Middle Eastern.  You can also get chicken schnitzel, Entrecote Steak, chicken wings, and salads.  Burgers can be made out of beef or lamb.  This is a chain with several outlets throughout Jerusalem, and most of them have a long line at peak times.  Didn’t get the the 4^th star because it is a zoo in there.

Baba***

This is a very Middle Eastern place.  How many ways can you serve chickpeas?  The main fare is a large plate of humus (creamy, a bit oily, and delicious) topped with various grilled meats or vegetables.  I got minced lamb with spices atop mine.  Karen got chickpeas with falafel balls on top of hers.  In her case, that’s whole chickpeas, fried chickpeas, and ground chickpeas in one dish!  The falafel balls were tinged with cinnamon.  You can also get grilled chicken, mushrooms, chicken livers, entrecote, and many other things atop your hummus plate as well.  Everything is spiced really nicely, but not necessarily “charif” or hot.   This is a great choice if you really want to immerse yourself in the Middle Eastern food experience.

Waffle Bar***

This is exactly what it sounds like, a restaurant where waffles are king, especially of the dessert variety.  They have salads, pizza, and savory waffles and crepes as well, but it’s really all about smothering thick waffles and thin crepes in a variety of very sweet toppings.  Those toppings include . chocolate, caramel, nutella, whipped cream, ice cream, and fruit.  Jonah’s was definitely the best, something called the Crepe Café Waffle, which added white chocolate chips to the mix.  We all felt a little bloated walking out of there, but it was delicious.  There are many other locations of Waffle Bar throughout the city.

Café Café**

Dairy Restaurant has a huge variety on its menu.  I had Shakshuka, which is a Middle Eastern Dish (most say Tunisian in origin) made up of tomatoes, roasted peppers, spice, eggs, cheese, and other goodies.  They have several varieties, and they all sound delicious.  My “regular” one certainly was.  Karen had the Haloumi Salad, which is a green salad with fried cubes of cheese in it, and enjoyed it very much. They also have salads, nachos, fish and chips, pizzas, and terrific pastries of all sorts.  Between us and the family who joined us for brunch that day, we tried all of these things, and they pulled all of them off well, with the possible exception of the nachos, which were more pita-like than tortilla like.

Moshava 54**+

Middle Eastern/Continental/Mediterranean mix with a small but varied menu.  I had a salad with steak on top of it.  Karen had what amounted to a barbecue chicken wrap.  Micah had a very ordinary chicken schnitzel.  It was good, but not amazing.  The plus comes from the mixed mushroom appetizer, a fantastic mix of sweet and savory

Ben Ami**

Another dairy restaurant with great variety on its menu, especially salads, quiches, raviolis, pizza, and desserts.  We were very excited to dig into sweet potato ravioli, but it tasted much more like cheese than sweet potato, and at high prices, we expected more intense flavors.  The mousse type dessert was good, but not amazing.  We went there during Passover, so perhaps it wasn’t a fair test, and the things they were able to pull off with pesadich food is an accomplishment in itself.  Still, it wasn’t good enough to want to go back to, so it only gets two stars.

FAST FOOD (Moshiko and Meirosh are actually on Ben Yehuda, nowhere near).

Felafel Doron***

This is a pretty typical Felafel/Schwarma place.  You can get it in a pita or a lafa.  Felafel in a pita is about 15 shekels ($5.00) and a schwarma costs about 23 shekels (just over $7.00).  It has all the traditional fixings—Israeli salad, pickles, hummus, tehina, cabbage, French fries, and plenty of other things I don’t put in my sandwich.  These places are a dime a dozen in Israel, and everyone has their personal favorites, but almost all of them are tasty to me.

Felafel Adir***

Very similar to Doron.  The Schwarma is slightly better here and the falafel not quite as good.  What’s great about it is it looks incredibly out of place nestled in between all the trendy places surrounding it in the neighborhood.  They also give free samples out if you’re nice.

Pizza Italia***

Pizza Italia’s slices are square, and they are fancier than your average New York style pizza place.  They have white pizza, pesto pizza, and very fresh looking vegetables as toppings.  Some are very hot/spicy, and the smell wafting from the place as you pass by is always tempting.

Pizza Sababa***

One of three pizza places on Emek Refaim, this one has the cheapest slices.  They are more or less New York style with all the requisite toppings.  It has a good balance of tomato, spice, and mozzarella, and it definitely satisfies the typical pizza craving.

New Deli***

When I was here for rabbinical school over 20 years ago, it was impossible to find good meat, let alone deli food.  This small chain has changed that.  The place has a Subway look to it, but the quality of the meats and vegetables is much, much better.  You can get the typical, Pastrami or Corned Beef, but also grilled chicken, turkey, or lamb, where they actually put it on the grill rather than in a microwave.  You pick your own fixings, and the grilled chicken I had there with pickles, olives, and roasted red peppers was delicious.

Shnitzy**

This is a exactly what it sounds like—a fast food type restaurant that specializes in Chicken Shnitzel.  You can have it in several styles, labeled Polish, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and regular, depending on what herbs you want it cooked with.  They also have grilled chicken and some other things, but it’s all about the schnitzel.  Despite its specialization in schnitzel, I have definitely had better chicken schnitzel elsewhere, and it is multiple napkin greasy.  We also got an order of chicken wings with a sauce that ranks as a four star, a combination of pomegranate, maple syrup, and citrus.   I dipped bread from my sandwich in it, it was so good, but the rest of the place was not quite up to snuff.  You can get a better schnitzel at most falafel/shwarma stands.

McDonalds**

This may be the only non Kosher place on Emek Refaim, but the meat there is Kosher, so, for some of us, as long as we don’t mix it with a milkshake, it’s good enough.  It takes like the McDonalds I remember as a kid before I kept Kosher.  I guess the flavor injections rather than the meat is the key to the famed McDonald’s consistency.  The fries taste the same as anywhere, and the Happy Meal is available for children.  There are a few differences, however.  They heat the burgers over charcoal grill, rather than on a fry grill, and they serve an “only in Israel” McFalafel.  I confess that I have never tried the McFalafel.  I should, but with amazing falafel on every corner, it’s hard for me to justify.

Big Apple Pizza**

This place attempts to be the “New York” pizza place, and, as such, it is frequented by Americans.  It is decorated in a New York theme, though for some unexplainable reason, they also have signs for other American cities, not all of which have good pizza.  The pizza here is not bad, but I prefer the other places over Big Apple any day. 

Moshiko*** (Ben Yehuda Street)

Moshiko is one of the most famous falafel/schwarma places in all of Jerusalem.  It is located near the bottom of Ben Yehuda Street, and with that prime location, charges prime prices.  It is really, really good, though. Typical fixings, but the quality of the schwarma and falafel are somehow just a cut above most of the others.

Meirosh** (Ben Yehuda Street)

This place is relatively new and is very close to one of its main competitors, the better known Moshiko.  The difference is that, in addition to falafel, schwarma, and schnitzel, they also serve grilled Cornish Game Hen in a pita or lafa.  The texture is a bit fatty for my taste, but the flavoring is very special and worth a try.

COFFEE AND BAGELS

The Coffee Mill***

This place is very American, but in a charming, independent sort of way.  They have barrels of different beans for purchase, but they also make good cappuccino, mochas, and ice coffee.  Ice coffee in Israel has always been more like a milkshake than a coffee.  They used to actually put ice cream into coffee and call it iced coffee.  Nowadays, it spins in a machine, and you can get it almost anywhere.  This place has a stronger coffee flavor in its ice coffee than some of the others.

The Old Man on the Corner**

This is not actually the name of the place.  I’m not sure it has a name, but this is how everyone refers to it.  At the beginning of Emek Refaim (if you're coming from King David Street), there is a little, mustached old man who speaks only Hebrew, so it is fun to order there.  He has ice coffee on the menu, but he will tell you not to order it, since there is no machine, and all he would do would be to pour instant coffee over ice.  His cappuccino is decent, and he has fresh squeezed grapefruit, orange, apple, and carrot juice as well.  But it’s his personality that makes this place a favorite.

Aroma**

This is the Starbucks of Israel.  There is a full menu of sandwiches and salads, as well as pastries, and a variety of espresso beverages.  It’s always teeming with people, just like Starbucks.

Café Hillel**

Another chain with a full menu, including salads, sandwiches, and pastas, it is quieter and a little than Aroma but with a slightly snobbier vibe.  The pastries are superior to those at Aroma; the coffee is quite similar.

Holy Bagel**

Bagels are a relatively new phenomenon in Israel, and they don’t quite measure up yet.  Still, this is the best bagel place we have found.  They are a little too soft and wheaty for bagels, but that makes them more edible as well.  They have sesame, raisin, poppy, and onion as well as plain.  Service is quick and helpful.

Tal Bagel**
This place is a full restaurant and not just a bagel shop, but I can only speak to the bagels.  They look like New York bagels, but they are not particularly good.  They are sort of hard on the outside and taste toasted even when they are not.  I would give it one star, but it is so crowded and popular that it must be better than I think in terms of the prepared food.

KING SOLOMON HOTEL AREA

There are four restaurants right across the street from the King Solomon Hotel and very close to the Inbal and Dan Panorama as well.  Their quality is distinctly mediocre.

Olive Fish***

This is an upscale place focused on, you guessed it, fish.  We have not tried it because we have already been to the regular Olive restaurant owned by the same people on Emek Refaim.  But that place was tasty, so I’m sure this one is just as good.

Cup A Joe**+

A coffee place, as you would imagine, but with a full menu of sandwiches and salads.  Service was spotty and the coffee was mediocre.  But the mini chocolate soufflé (not really a soufflé,  but more like a lava cake) was really good.

Little Italy**

Their menu sounds great, but with the kids that night, we ordered plain Pizza Margherita and Spaghetti Pomodoro.  So I can’t comment on all the things we wanted to try (various mushroom pastas, fish, and risotto), but I can tell you that the basic pizza and pasta were not very good.  The pizza was chewy, and the pasta was oily.  Still, it is very convenient.

Paradiso Café and P2 Pizza*

Truthfully, I have never been here.  It gets one star, because it is one of the few flagrantly unkosher places in Jerusalem.  You can get pork there if you desire it.  It really is out of place in a religious neighborhood where it is located.    You have to try hard to find unkosher places in Jerusalem, but here is one.

B'tei Avon!

Settlers in Hebron, Palestinians in the West Bank--Jerusalem Week 10

In case you can't read it, the Native American is saying:  "Ask me about land for peace."

Wow, what a week.  Ulpan ended, so I decided to take advantage of the free time by taking day trips to some of the more controversial places in Israel. Things are relatively calm now, and I wanted to take advantage of that. In order to maximize my understanding, I wanted to hear the stories from those who were most passionate about the land--the settlers and the Palestinians themselves.

I deliberately did not tell anyone outside of Israel that I would be heading to Hebron and Palestinians in the West Bank because I didn't want to worry them.  I'm safe and sound now, so I can tell the tale, though, honestly, never once did I feel endangered in any way.

Hebron

Hebron is most famous as the very first piece of property the Jewish people acquired in Israel.  In Genesis, Abraham buys a field from Ephron the Hittite, insisting on paying full price, in order to bury his wife Sarah.  That cave, called the Cave of Machpela, is the traditional burial site not only of Sarah, but also of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebecca, and Leah.  As such, the Cave of Machpela and Hebron are sacred to Muslims.  Rachel is buried on the road to Ramallah, and we visited her grave as well.  Jews have lived in Hebron for centuries.  Built around the burial site is a massive structure built by King Herod the Great. The same Kabbalists I talked about last week in Safed in the 16th Century also established a thriving community in Hebron.  There was co-existence with the Muslims throughout the Middle Ages, but Jews were allowed only up to the 7th step leading to the grave.  They had no access to the actual tombs.  The early Zionists of the late 1800's and early 1900's also established a strong presence there.  Even the first Hadassah hospital was established there. In 1928, Jews were actually the majority in Hebron.  A massive pogrom in 1929, referred to by most Jews as the Hebron Massacre, which killed dozens of Jewish residents, drove most of the remaining members away.  Continued rioting in the 1930's caused the British to remove the remaining Jews from Hebron, not to return again until well after the Six Day War.  The history of violence there has continued, as sniper fire over the last 20 years has taken the lives of other Jewish residents of the city, including babies. Equally famous was a Jewish massacre at the Cave of Machpela, perpetrated in 1994 by Baruch Goldstein, who entered the cave and murdered 29 Muslims praying at the tomb.  Shortly afterward, the tomb was divided into separate sections for Jews and Muslims, as it is to this day.

Memorial for Jewish baby
 killed by sniper fire.

Coffee urn outside Jewish
home also hit by sniper fire.  

Today's Hebron is dark and depressing, though some light was provided by our tour guide, appropriately named Sarah, who is, as strange as this sounds, a slightly fanatical, but ever so cheerful settler herself. Because of the Jewish history there, after telling a story or visiting a site, she would ask:  "isn't it the most natural thing that a Jew would want to live here?"  Still, a Jew who does ultimately decide to live in this hardship has to be unbelievably dedicated, some might even say crazy.  Life is very hard and very dangerous there. Many Jewish residents there have been shot or stabbed, and many of the courtyards and mini streets are named after the victims.  

Hebron is divided into a Muslim area, which has about 30,000 residents and a mixed area, which has about 900 Jewish residents and several thousand Muslim residents.  Jews began coming back to Hebron in the late 1970's, but their building is restricted to essentially one street.  That street includes the first Hadassah hospital, which now houses a museum about Hebron, a visitor's center, a pre-school, and most of the Jewish residents.  It is illegal for Jews to expand there, even in buildings previously owned by and/or attached to Jewish homes.  From time to time they try to do so anyway, and they told us of one incident where, after moving  into a formerly Jewish owned and currently uninhabited house next door to a Jewish residence, the Israeli army evicted the family and took a sledgehammer to their home. There is a huge Israeli army presence there, as much to protect the settlers from Palestinians as to prevent them from expanding and provoking the Arab residents of the city.  What an incredibly painful task it is for the Israeli army to try and protect its citizens while trying to make sure some of those same citizens don't explode the tinderbox!

One moving story that our guide Sarah shared with us had to do with the riots/pogroms in the twenties and thirties.  During the last series of riots in the late 1930's the British came to evacuate the remaining Jewish residents, who were gathered in the synagogue in great fear.  The last to be evacuated was a teenage boy standing next to the ark.  The British soldier told him he must leave immediately, but the boy said that he needed to save the Torah, a Sephardic style Torah from Syria.  The soldier told him there was no room left on the truck.  Imagine long pregnant pause here.   Over 60 years later when the synagogue in Hebron was rededicated an old man showed up with a large duffel bag.  He announced to the assembled group that he had a story to tell.  He took the very same Torah from his bag, and it is housed in the Ark of the synagogue today.

The Torah with the story

Despite the pain and darkness of the day, praying at the tomb of Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, and Leah was a very moving experience for me.  I'm not sure I will ever go back or if Jews will even be allowed to come back should the Messiah come and there be a peace settlement, but I am glad I went this week.

Structure surrounding Cave of Machpela, built by King Herod

Meetings with Palestinians in the West Bank

The next day I went on a semi private tour of some Palestinian areas of the West Bank with a rabbinic colleague named Rabbi Arik Asherman, who is one of the founders of the Rabbis for Human Rights.  I did not go to Ramallah or Jenin and meet with Hamas extremists or even members of the theoretically more moderate Fatah, but, rather, into tiny villages made up primarily of farmers and shepherds. RHR does work not only for Palestinian rights, but for a whole host of other human rights issues within Israel itself, from labor to health care to Bedouins.  In terms of the Palestinians in the West Bank, a major part of what RHR does is work through the Israeli courts to protect Palestinian villages, property and grazing land.  Though I certainly do not agree with much of Rabbi Asherman's politics, I respect and admire his passion and work, and it was a very meaningful, if somewhat disturbing day for me.

It is impossible to meet with these Palestinian shepherds and farmers and not be moved by their plight.  They get trampled upon from all directions.  The first village we went to was called Susia.  This tiny Palestinian village of maybe 20 families has been squeezed on all sides, first by archaeological excavations of an ancient synagogue and then by a Jewish settlement by the same name.  The families have been forced to move to a different hilltop on two occasions, and they are not even allowed to plug into the waterlines or power grid. Recently, settlers from the Jewish Susia have tried to plant a vineyard on land that the Palestinians use for grazing, and RHR has successfully challenged this in court.  Sadly, vines have been replanted, as the court rulings often prove more difficult to enforce.  As we  were leaving, United Nations vehicles were pulling in.  Apparently, this is a regular stop on the Palestinian sympathy trail.

Jewish Susia

Palestinian Susia

The next village was called Brir el-'Eid and is partially built into caves in the harsh Judean Desert.  There are only about 5 or 6 families who are sticking it out here, as harsh conditions combined with settler takeover of their grazing lands has made life next to impossible for these families.  Their tiny village is only accessible by foot and tractor, and nearby settlers have slashed the tires of said tractor to make life even more difficult for them.  They had equally unkind words for the Palestinian authority, who they called "useless," and they have also been disappointed by the lack of assistance from better off Arab towns to which they have appealed.  Despite all this, they showed us some of the famous Arab hospitality and served us tea.

Built right into the caves.

We also visited a village called Im el Khir, which has more livestock than people.  They were effusive in their praise for Rabbi Asherman, as they recently received a court order which stops the Jewish settlement of Karmel from expanding into their grazing land.  This was after one of the settlers killed one of Im el Khir's grazing goats.  I don't know how long the ruling will hold, but it was nice to see someone thankful for what was undoubtedly a hard fought case with a just outcome.  

We ended our day in the most controversial place of all, in East Jerusalem, in a highly publicized place called Sheikh Jarrah.  A number of Sephardic Jewish families lay claim to this neighborhood, as they were apparently living there just before the 1948 War of Independence.  When the Jordanians captured the territory in the War, they settled many of the Palestinian refugees from other parts of what then became Israel in this neighborhood.  Some of these Jewish families believe these homes should belong to them, and the housing authority uses almost any excuse they can to evict the Arab tenants--late rent payment, remodeling without a permit, etc.  We met with a man who had been evicted from his home.

            The Eye of the Beholder:  Historic Jewish Home or Palestinian Residence
I am very glad I got to hear these stories from the people who have been affected by them.  As I mentioned, one can not help but feel great sympathy for their plight.  These are not Hamas terrorists, but kind, working people who have gotten a terrible deal. 

At this point, after seeing such a strong military presence in Hebron to prevent Jewish building there, my thoughts turned to why that same logic doesn't seem to apply near these small, out-of-the way Palestinian villages next to Israeli settlements.  Is it because they are much more removed from the public eye?  That certainly is not the case in East Jerusalem, though it may be in Susia.  I'll have more to say about that in a moment.

The Third Day--West Bank Settlements of Nokdim, Tekoa, and an Unrecognized Outpost

After my day in the Palestinian West Bank I decided I wanted to hear from some of these settlers themselves, so I went on an organized tour called "Meet the Settlers."  The tour was led by a quirky, friendly man named Bruce Brill, a wind engineer/klezmer musician/feelance writer. At this point I should point out that while the West Bank is a geographic designation, Jewish residents who live there refer to the area not as the West Bank, but by their Biblical names of Judea and Samaria.  Much more than Tel Aviv and Haifa, this is truly the land of the Bible.

Wind Engineer/Musician/Settler/Tour Guide Bruce

Our first stop was Nokdim, now also called El David, renamed after two Jewish West Bank residents who were murdered by Palestinians.  We met with a soft-spoken social worker named Shmuel.  Though he believes Jews have every right to be there, he and his family live there less for ideological reasons than for practical ones.  It is 15 minutes from Jerusalem, and he could afford to buy a house there.  

We also stopped in Tekoa, which is famous Biblically for an unnamed "wise woman" who King David's General Yoav consults in 2nd Samuel.  I've always loved this Biblical story so I was quite happy to visit.  The modern Tekoa was established by Jews from the former Soviet Union in the late seventies.  The wise woman we consulted there was our tour guide's ex-wife.  She has lived there for 30 years and, similar to Shmuel, likes its proximity to Jerusalem as well as its diversity.   There are Anglos and native born Israelis there, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, religious and secular.  

The third place we visited has a name, though I don't remember it.  It is an illegal outpost, meaning that settlers have placed modular homes there, probably in the middle of the night, and they are not recognized by the Israeli government.  There is a soldier stationed there as well, similar to Hebron, as much to prevent expansion by the settlers as to protect the dozen or so families there.  We met with a man named Dan there.  He was brilliant, articulate, passionate, and somewhat frightening.  He is not religious, but most of  us would view him as a zealot.  He chooses to live there because he wants to be on the front lines of the war, both philosophically and materially.  Though his views are scary, talking to him he still comes across as a nice guy.  

All these places were fascinating and disturbing at the same time.  Bruce was an excellent guide who seems to be on a first name basis with everyone we met.  Ironically, many of these people were Palestinian residents of the West Bank, who are the contractors and laborers for the settlement building!

Impressions

If you've read this far, I'm impressed.  This trip allowed me to sympathize with the people I met and "humanize" the problems, but it did not fundamentally change my pragmatist views on the Israel-Palestinian issue.  Now, imagine Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof.

On the one hand, I admire the passion, dedication, and love of the land of all these people.  I also have to say that all of them seem like nice human beings, whether or not I agree with their views on the Middle East, whether or not I believe they should be situated where they are.


On the other hand, I heard far too many words of dehumanization on all sides during these three days.  To the other side, they are Palestinians and Settlers rather than actual human beings.  One of the most disturbing things I heard was a comment from a person who joined me on my makeshift tour with Rabbis for Human Rights.  This person said to me:  "Oh, those settlers are truly evil."  I replied:  "Yes, some of them really are."  She responded:  "Some of them?  All of them are evil.  Why did you say some of them?"  I answered:  "My experience tells me that there are all kinds of people living in these settlements for all kinds of reasons.  It's really wrong to generalize anyone."  Yes, it's hard for Bay Area residents to say this, but "settlers" are people too.  I am still bothered by this person's remarks.  If they are not actual human beings in your mind's eye, it's far too easy to dismiss them.  I find this very dangerous.


Who owns what land and what are the statutes of limitations?  On the one hand,  you might say we should go back to the original owners of the land.  If a Jew owned a house in Hebron before the riots or in East Jerusalem before it was captured by the Jordanians, he should be able to reinhabit it.  


On the other hand, does the Palestinian from Haifa get to go back to his home too?  How far back do we go?  To 1966?  1947?  1928?  Biblical times?  Do we accept Israeli papers, British papers, Jordanian papers, or Ottoman papers?  These questions are incredibly complex in the Middle East, and there are no easy answers.  


On the one hand, the left wing in particular and most of the world in general believes that Palestinians have an absolute right to stay in areas where there is a vast Jewish majority.


On the other hand, the left wing in particular and most of the world in general believes that areas with a Palestinian majority should be Judenrein, completely free of Jews.  It is a very cruel irony.

A sign of cruel irony

On the one hand, human rights are paramount in a civilized society.

On the other hand, protecting a Palestinian's civil rights to the furthest extreme can actually be a stumbling block to peace almost as much as the settler trying to build right next to a primarily Palestinian area. Again, if the Messiah should ever come and enable peace to have a chance here, this peace necessitates some sort of physical separation between Palestinians and Israelis.  It only makes sense that, even in the West Bank, areas with a vast Jewish majority will have to remain a part of Israel and areas with a vast Palestinian majority will become part of the Palestinian State.  And that means some people are going to have to move.  


It's somewhat analogous to the one old man who owns the only property that the new road has to pass through.  It's not fair, but sometimes, he has to move.  He should be generously compensated for that move.  But if he is continually told he has an absolute right to stay there, or if he feels that God tells him he has to stay there, or if he feels like someone might kill him for selling his property, it's going to make things much more difficult.  Whether we're talking about the Israeli settler whose Biblical convictions tell him he can never leave the land or the Palestinian whose family has been there for decades and is also being threatened with his life for selling to a Jew, the end result is the same.  Tradeoffs are going to have to happen, and that is exactly why the Israeli government and the army station the soldiers where they do.  They don't want to give any incentive for anyone to move into or remain in areas that don't fit in with a workable future for two peoples and two states.


Ideology is admirable, but it can also be a stumbling block.  Sometimes great can get in the way of good.  In the end, I vote for peace over principle. 


All sides in the West Bank/Judea/Samaria seem to detest the Oslo accords and rail against both the  governments.  But it is much easier to be against something than to construct real solutions in one of the most intractable conflicts in the world.  We can only hope that the next generation will be able to make sacrifices that this one seemingly can't.



Synagogues of the Week
This week we ended up at a different synagogue on Saturday morning than we attended in the evening.  It had to do with the fact that I heard on Friday night that the Saturday service would run past Noon, and we were having guests.  In any case, on Friday night we went to Yakar, another spirited modern Orthodox synagogue with a lot of Anglos.  They actually have two separate services.  The first one, downstairs, is more meditation-oriented, though it's the loudest meditation I've ever experienced.  They sit rather still in their seats and sing many niggunim (songs without words) at the top of their lungs in multiple harmonies.  It is beautiful, though some of the songs drag on for quite a while.  Lecha Dodi was taking a very long time, when we suddenly heard the spirited Shlomo Carlebach tunes we have come to love emanating from somewhere else in the building.  So for the second half of the service we went upstairs and joined in there.  Lots of ruach, which Jonah tells me he personally hopes to bring back to Temple Beth Abraham.


On Saturday morning we went to Shir Chadash, not to be confused with Shira Chadasha where we spent our first Shabbat.  It was a little quieter than some of the places we've been, but it was very sweet, and there was a sermon in English.  They had a long-time Gabbai saying an emotional goodbye to the congregation that week, and it was very moving.  There were also two grooms this week, and they did a little dance around the Torah table with each of them.  Jonah joined in, as he seems to be some sort of good luck symbol to people.  Micah got to do Gelila (dressing the Torah), though he was disappointed that he didn't get to do Anim Zmirot.  Anim Zmirot is a very long, difficult hymn of glory that he has been working very hard on.  He knows it now, but this synagogue followed the not as common custom of reciting it early in the service rather than late, and we didn't get a chance to ask anyone if he could do it.  Thus it was led by the regular davener, and not all that well!


Wine of the Week--Yarden Syrah 2007
                             
Yarden is widely available in the U.S., and is the top of the line brand of the Golan Heights Winery.  This one was smooth and drinkable, with a very pure Shiraz taste.  Very good, but not amazing, similar to the Dalton and Galil Mountain Shiraz'.  87


Just a few more days until the Temple Beth Abraham congregational trip arrives.  Yeah!  For a small preview, we got to see Marissa Halbrecht, daughter of Hildie Spritzer Satomi and Tzutomo Satomi, along with her two gorgeous children, this week.

Israel Week 9--Literally Searching for a Synagogue in Safed and Tiberias

.

This weekend we had the opportunity to go on a Tiyul (a mini trip within Israel) to the North, specifically to Rosh Hanikra, Tiberias, and Safed.  We love Jerusalem, but it's nice to enjoy the "nature" part of Israel as well, which this trip enabled us to do.

Rosh Hanikra is one of the most beautiful sites in all of Israel.  It is essentially a grotto, with caves having formed at the bottom of some cliffs over many centuries.  It is at the Northern tip of Israel right onto the Mediterranean Sea.  The contrast of water and cliff creates both incredible beauty and a very steep, scary cable car ride.

Tiberias is one of the four original "holy" cities of Israel, the others being Jerusalem, Safed, and Hebron.  It is also the place where many of the Rabbinic sages lived and wrote the Talmud and the Mishna.  It's also the site of many of Jesus' miracles, so it gets many Christian "pilgrims."  In modern Israel it is a resort town, though more Cape May, New Jersey than St. Barts.  Most travel agents do not recommend it to Americans any more, as it just a little grittier than most Americans are used to.

Nevertheless, Karen and I both love it there.  The highlight was swimming in Lake Kinneret, also known as the Sea of Galilee, where the fresh water feels like silk on your skin.  The town has a great boardwalk type feel, and the kids enjoyed the sound and light show with holograms on the water in the evening.  It's no Disney's World of Color, but it was still lovely. We had a great meal at a restaurant called Avi's, which gets terrific reviews on TripAdvisor.
We visited the graves of some of the important rabbinic sages, including Yohanan ben Zakkai, Rabbi Akiva, and Rambam, who is also known as Maimonides, and is probably the most prolific Jewish scholar of all time. I also took a walk on Shabbat to visit the "traditional" grave of the matriarchs.  It's not Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah, who are buried at the Cave of Hebron, but 6 other Biblical women:  Ziporah (wife of Moses), Yocheved (Mother of Moses), Elisheva (wife of Aaron), Abigal (wife of King David), Bilha, and Zilpa, the two concubines of Jacob.  I put "traditional" in quotations, because here we get into the intersection of Biblical myth and history.

Rambam, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon's grave.  The inscription reads "from Moses to Moses there was no one like Moses.

Tomb of Rabbi Akiva

Searching for a Synagogue
On Friday night we drove to Safed to find a place to welcome Kabbalat Shabbat.   We very much wanted to be there on Friday night, because Kabbalat Shabbat (the part of the service that goes from Yedid Nefesh through L'cha Dodi) was invented in Safed in the 16th Century by the Jewish mystics or Kabbalists.  Every Friday after candlelighting they would gather to ecstatically greet Shabbat like a bride.  That mysticism and religious fervor, along with many artists, is still the most prevalent thing about Safed today.  I have been there many times, but never without a tour guide, so we had a very difficult time finding anything.  We had intended to visit both the Ari Synagogue (the synagogue in the name of Rabbi Isaac Luria, who passed down the Kabbalah that we know today) or the Caro Synagogue (the Rabbi who wrote the Shulchan Aruch, the law compendium we still follow today).  Unfortunately, we couldn't find either.  We did enter the Bratslaver synagogue (famous for the great Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, one of the greatest storytellers in Jewish history), and settled into the Beirav synagogue.  While the Beirav synagogue building is nothing special, built in the 1800's and looking like a run down schoolroom, they are famous for having the most spirited Jewish services in the world.   Not much spirit on the women's side, unfortunately, but the men's side was a party.  Dancing and singing and jumping everywhere you turn at every prayer.  It was part spiritual ecstasy, part hora, part fraternity party.  I had a great time dancing with Micah, Jonah, and a bunch of happy strangers I will never see again.

The next morning we searched for a synagogue in Tiberias.  We started at the Great Synagogue of Tiberias, which is a Rav Cook synagogue.  Rav Cook was the first Chief Rabbi of Israel and one of the very few Orthodox rabbis who was a Zionist early on.  The place was very Israeli and had some vibrancy to it.  We probably should have stayed, but we were too late to find a seat.  We next tried the Orbach Shul, known as the Shtieblach.  There are a few different minyans going on at once there in different study rooms.  There were no seats in any of them, and the davening was almost entirely silent.  We finally made our way to a Chabad synagogue, where they had seats, but unlike most Chabad houses, very little joy.  I had an Aliyah which I tried to mumble as fast as possible in imitation of the other Aliyot.  It was still a little too audible. I did enjoy the sermon, however, which was about the menorah in the parasha Beha'alotecha, and how every tribe leader had to help light it, not just the High Priest.  All of us, in the Jewish community, need to follow their example and help to light our own souls, not just rely on our leaders.  I liked the message, but I mostly liked it  because I could understand it even though it was all in Hebrew.  The American accent and simple Hebrew of the Chabad Rabbi helped.  Plus, if it's about the Torah portion, I usually know most of the words already and what they are likely to say.  This is much easier for me to understand than a simple news broadcast.

Wine of the Week--2008 Recanati Cabernet
                                         
Only about a 73.  Pretty good black cherry flavor, but it had a hint of carbonation in it and not enough balance of wood, which I prefer in a Cabernet.  May just need to age a little more, but not one of the better wines I've had here.