As I write this it's about 8 pm in Israel, so most of you still have a way to go until midnight. I'll be on my way to Haifa in the morning by then. The weather here has been rainy the last couple of days, but that hasn't stopped us from touring around. Friday we went to Akko (Acre) which was the capital of the Crusader Kingdom in the 12th century. The old crusader fortress has been excavated greatly from when we were here in 1994, and the rooms and halls you can see now are incredible. Imagine 40 foot tall vaulted ceilings with arches, secret passages, and all sorts of Gothic architecture. I have no idea how they built them. But since the first crusade takes place in Book Three - Rachel, which I will start writing when I return from this trip, I wanted to see as much crusader stuff here as possible.
With that in mind we climbed up to Nimrod's Fortress ruins today (of course there were hardly any other tourists). It was windy and raining, and I really felt like the old crusader castle ruins were haunted - that a demon or monster might appear out of the old cisterns or from the many dark underground rooms. It was like walking in a real-life Dungeons & Dragons setting. We also hiked around the nature preserve at Tel Dan, which is one of the most lush beautiful places I've seen in Israel. Rivers, streams all around you; springs gushing up out of the ground; so many plants and trees that I felt inside of nature. No wonder they call this place Gan Eden.
I'm back up in Tsfat for the weekend after an exciting several days in the environs of Jerusalem. We've been doing lots of tourist stuff in advance of my heavy speaking schedule coming up. Visited Sorek's Cave, just south of the city, and walked thru a huge cavern with some incredible stalactites and all sorts of other weird rock formations. Drove along the Dead Sea to the naturure preserve at Ein Gedi, where we hiked both canyons - Wadi Agurot and Wadi David (where King David hid out and wrote many of the Psalms). Since it had just rained a couple of days before, both streams were full and the waterfalls were gushing. The towering canyons were spectactular; we managed to hike them both but didn't have time to stop at Quamram.
In Jerusalem, we walked the ramparts of the walled city and came down at the Damascus Gate, only to get lost in an incredibly crowded shuk/market area in the Muslum Quarter. I was pretty nervous since we were obviously the only Westerners. Being a woman, I suggested we ask directions at a coffee/juice bar with an English sign. Of course the owner helped us, and served us some wonderful freshly squeezed orange juice too. We left the old city just as it was starting to drizzle and barely made it back to our car before the deluge began. I can't imagine the poor hikers in Ein Gedi - it would have been flashfloods for them for sure. The next day we visited the huge Machane Market, where all the locals shop, but because of the rain it wasn't too crowded. Then on the way back to our hotel, it started to SNOW. Walking around in the snow in Jerusalem, where it only snows every 4-5 years, was incredible for this LA girl. Of course hardly anyone showed up for my author talk that night, but I didn't care.
Today we drove up north, stopping at 3 fascinating Israel parks. First was Tel Megiddo (Armageddon), on which Michner's novel "The Source" was based. Then on to Beit Shearim, where there are hundreds of catacombs containing Jewish graves with carved and decorated sarcophogi from the 3rd century CE. This was a pilgramage for me, since one of those caves holds the grave of Judah haNasi, who compiled the Mishnah. Finally we stopped at Zippori, where they recently excavated a city with many beautiful mosaic floors, including the synagogue. The mosaics were indeed lovely, and in very good shape, considering their age. It's amazing to imagine that all this stuff has been buried under Israeli soil for hundreds of years, just waiting to be discovered.
What an amazing last few days in Jerusalem. We drove down from Tsfat on Thursday, stopping to see the amazing ruins in Beit She'an and the 3rd-century mosaic synagogue floor at Beit Alpha. Then I got up early Friday morning to get to the Kotel (Western Wall) by 7 am to pray Rosh Chodesh with "Women at the Wall," a group of women who are protesting the Orthodox monopoly on the wall that prevents women from praying out loud or reading from the Torah there. It was an incredible experience.
First I saw the sun rise over the wall, then found the other women and we began davening the morning service, rather loudly. It was a challenge to use a Hebrew only prayerbook, but I managed OK. We stood as far away from the men's side as possible, in case they should throw something at us, and towards the back on a little rise. That way the men could see us if they turned around, which many did when we began to sing Hallel (for Rosh Hodesh). At that time a hasidic man actually came over to our side, but the guards made him leave. Then it was time for the Torah service; the scroll having been smuggled in a duffle bag. There was a group from NY with their female rabbi, about 30 of them, so we had a nice crowd.
We read Torah at the newly excavated southern extension of The Wall, and people have already started putting their prayers into cracks in it. There's a piece of the wall that has fallen down that makes a perfect bima for the Torah. I guess they noticed that I was familiar with the service, because they invited me for an aliyah. Can you believe it? My first morning in Jerusalem and I have an aliyah reading Torah at The Wall! Then when they asked my name and where I was from (Maggie from LA), someone recognized me, got very excited and asked when Book Two is coming out. It turns out that a very nice article about me and Rashi's Daughters (Three Women and a Talmud) was in the weekend edition of the Jerusalem Post, so many people were aware of my visit.
This entry is long enough. We had a wonderful Hanukah in Jerusalem and are now in Beersheva for my first speaking program.
It's 4 am and I'm too jet-lagged to sleep all night. So I may as well write this. We arrived Tuesday night at our friends' house in Tsfat, exhausted but just in time for a snack of freshly made bread and to light the Hanukah candles. Of course we said the "schehechianu" for our first time doing this is Israel.
Yesterday was busy. We got up early and drove to Har Bental in the Golan, which used to be a Syrian bunker. The views of the Galleli very beautiful, but it was too smoggy to see Lake Kinneret very well. Imagine, leaving LA and encountering more smog in Israel than at home. We had driven past a sign "pri Golan," that intrigued us and we followed it to discover a fruit packing factory. They were doing apples at the moment for the company name "Bereshit" (apples, get it?). It was amazing! The apples come from the kibbutz growers and then float around the highly mechanized factory on a river of apples, as they get cleaned, graded, sorted and packed. Reminded me of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Of course we bought apples.
Then we headed for Tsfat, where the weekly shuk (market) was open. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, clothing, shoes, small household goods, candy - all for sale at probably 50 different vender stalls. Crowded with Orthodox familes with many children (hence all the stalls selling baby and toddler clothes) and Russians. After that we had time for a brief walk thru the old city, a rabbit warren of narrow stone walkways and Judaica shops. It was nearing sunset, so all the old synagogues were open for services. We saw a lovely sunset and headed back for dinner. Today we're off to Jerusalem and I'll post again when I find another computer to borrow.
Happy Hanukah to all of you. Here's some good news on a personal note. My daughter, Emily Parkhurst, is starting her 8th month of pregnancy (how's that for waiting to avoid the Evil Eye?). So I'm due to become a grandmother on Feb 13. So there may be some competition for my time when I need to start writing "Book Three - Rachel." But "Book Two - Miriam" is finished, just waiting for copy editing (finding all those typos that I missed).
I will try to update you more often during my upcoming Israel trip; we leave on Monday. Chag Sameach!