I would walk 500 miles

Monday was all about walking. In the early afternoon jessica and I went to Ben Yehuda street for lunch and spent a couple hours walking all throughout the City Center area. There is always something happening in the City Center, especially on Ben Yehuda. Street performers, musicans, singers, portrait artists, acrobats and the like are always trying to attract a crowd. Many of them are quite talented (some are not at all). At least one ultra religious person will usually be there trying to get all of the men to lay tefillen. Beggars go around asking for money from anyone who stops long enough.

It is a great place to get lunch, find a place to sit, then people watch while taking in the ambiance of everything that is going on around you.

After my late afternoon class we walked to the City of David just outside the Old City at the Dung Gate. This is the location where, 3,000 years ago, King David built the city of Jerusalem establishing it as the unified capital for the tribes of Israel. The City of David is mostly underground through the ruins of Jerusalem in the time before David's son King Solomon built the first Temple.

A view of the city from the lookout point at the City of David

our decent begins

It took FOREVER to walk out at the end of the City of David tour, always going up, up, up. Check Jessica's shutterfly account for the entire odyssey.

After the City of David, we spent the rest of the evening walking around the Old City, then finally walking home. Aside form the tour groups, it always amazes me how quiet the streets of the Jewish Quarter are in the evening. it's so relaxing to walk around and take in the city while almost nothing is going on around you.

Sheep go to heaven ...

Every week the Yeshiva organizes Shabbat hospitality, placing any student who needs a place for Shabbat dinner on Friday or lunch on Saturday with students or faculty of the program who are able to host others. Jessica and I did not have plans this week for Shabbat dinner, so we asked to be a part of the hospitality program.

We received an email that we were placed with Rabbi Jerome Epstein, USCJ Chief Israel Affairs Officer. Rabbi Epstein was the the chief executive officer of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism since 1986, as well as the executive vice president since 1989. He recently stepped down from those positions, but is still working for USCJ as the Chief Israel Affairs Officer. That's who hosted us for dinner.

We were joined by another yeshiva student (who happens to also be in my ulpan), that worked for Rabbi Epstein 30 years ago (Rabbi Epstein also officiated at his wedding, so you could say they had a bit of a history). Rabbi Epstein and his wife Jane we incredibly gracious hosts. Dinner was lovely, and the five of us had an extremely relaxed evening together. It was a very pleasant way to spend our Shabbat evening.

On Saturday afternoon Jessica and I made a picnic Shabbat lunch. We walked down to enjoy it on the Jerusalem Haas Promenade. The Promenade offers a fantastic view of the Jerusalem landscape, the Old City and its walls atop the hills, and the new city below. It is a common area for tour groups to visit upon entering Jerusalem for it's amazing view. While were were there it was much dirtier (litter ridden) than I remember it being on my previous trips to Israel, but the view was just as amazing.

After finishing or lunch we walked along the promenade, which was mostly uneventful, save for our trip being interrupted by a herd of goats which crossed our pass as they climbed up the hill. I have yet to have a herd of goats cause me any delays when traveling in Ann Arbor.