Hello, I'm a French primary school teacher living in Israel... my english is poor but i want to impr...
Hello, I'm a French primary school teacher living in Israel... my english is poor but i want to improve so please...:-)
Member since:08.09.2005
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Jerusalem, town of gold... Yeroushalaïm, shel zahav.. Eternal City... town of David... town of peace... town of all the conflicts... Center of the world... timeless town... City of the 3 great monotheist religions ... Incarnation of Israel... city of the passion of Jesus... city of Mahomet...
City which as no other can move, clarify your heart and ignite your imagination.
The old city, cradle of the religions ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The old city counts 27000 inhabitants in its old enclosing walls, for a surface of 4km2. One enters there by several gates: Damas gate, Golden Gate, Detritus Gate, Sion Gate, Jaffa Gate...
There are 4 various districts: Jew, Moslem, Christian and Armenian.
The Jewish district &&&&&&&&&&
This district is inhabited by Jews since the time of the first temple, of which the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) is the vestige. Today, it is a modern district which includes many synagogues and yeshivot (Jewish schools). It is an animated district, with shops, Community centers, and a vast historical museum . There is in particular the Cardo, a pedestrian covered way, axis of the Roman garrison town after the destruction of Jerusalem, in 70 after JC.
Close to the Cardo, there is the museum of the Jewish District, which recalls the history of this sector since the time of the Hebrews until today, while passing by the war of independence of 1948 or the Six Days war of 1967.
Also to be seen, the Ashkenazi street, with a beautiful synagogue and residences of the beginning of XVè century, the ruins of the Hourvah synagogue, dynamited by Arabics in 1948, the Ramban synagogue which was built in 1267, superb and very attended.
But the most beautiful synagogues which I could see are in the field of the four sefaradic synagogues destroyed in 1948 and restored very well since.
I also visited the museum of the old Yishouv which explains the life styles of the Jewish community of before very enriching.
Not to be missed, the burned house, an extraordinary archeological site, residence of a clan of priests of which I forgot to note
the name, and who was burnt with the destruction of Jerusalem; one can see there the authentic skeleton of an arm of a woman who tried to flee! (the woman in e tried to flee, not her arm...)
The Western Wall or Wailing Wall &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
It is an indescribable place; it is necessary to see it, touch it, feel it... to see the enthusiasm of the faithful ones, to pray in front of it, to embrace it... nowhere else did I feel this extaordinary feeling on which I cannot put words...
It was raised by Hérode 20 before JC; it is 15 meters high. It is the single vestige of the Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 after JC, which explains the veneration that one feels for it. One gathers there to mourn this destruction, to pray for the arrival of the Messiah and the rebuilding of the Temple.
The women pray on the right, the men on the left. Thursdays, many bar mitsvahs are held there and one then attends amusing scenes of jubilation which greet the entry in the adult world of young 13 years old boys.
In the interstices of the Wall, thousands of small papers carrying the prayers for Hashem; I even heard that a Web site proposed this service for people throughout the world...! Bythe way, it would be a pleasure for me to take your prayers there (I go almost every week)
Women propose against a small tsedaka (gift) the small red wire which you perhaps noticed on the wrist of some brainless stars who try to find a goal in their lives...
Just outside the enclosure of the old city, I advise you visted 3 major sites.
- the city of David where the archaeological excavations are always in hand.
- the valley of Cédron - the Sion mount where churches and yeshivot are close to one another.
The way of the Martyrdom &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
For the Christians, I imagine the emotion to follow the steps which Christ would have followed from the handing-over of the cross to the crucifixion. This way is called his via dolorosa (painful way). The true way would exist still, hidden somewhere under the current level. The faithful ones can follow all the stations of the cross there, to the fourteenth, within the church of the Holy Sepulchre, which also shelters the tomb of Jesus. This church is immense and not very pretty in my opinion, but remarkable for the above-named reasons, and also by the fact that 4 Christian communities share its maintenance.
One can visit the garden of the olive-trees where, according to the Christian tradition, Judas "would have given" Jesus, then would have hung himself on one of the olive-trees, always in place, and thus almost 2 000 years old.
In this same garden, rises the Basilica of all the nations, very pretty from the outside; and, higher on the mount, the singular Russian church Marie-madeleine with her pinnacles with gilded bulbs.
Muslim monuments &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Most known is the Dome of the Rock of course, with, to my regret, I could admire only since the Western Wall because the access is forbidden to non-Muslims since the beginning of the second intifada... It is called also mosque of Omar; everyone knows its cupola entirely gilded with fine gold.
Feeling the old city &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
For me, it is not comparable to anything. Of course, as a Jewish woman, I feel a particular feeling when I embrace the Wall, when I visit a synagogue... but I guarantee that any person, even atheistic or agnostic, cannot walk in its walls without feeling this indefinable feeling of eternity and plenitude.
Another thing that I like to make in Jerusalem, is to make a little randomly survey of the souks which cover all the districts and which propose incredible odds and to interesting prices compared to Tel-Aviv. No fear when I walk there, no aggressiveness in the glances... and if you speak French, you will be even received with open arms... and especially, do not forget to haggle over, that will avoid you making you swindle and it is the habit!
As far as the food is concerned, for me nothing is better than a small kiosk where you sit at a corner of a table to taste a falafel or a kebab... this is delicious!
The new city, a modern city ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For us, Jerusalem is our capital, even if the economic center is Tel-Aviv. But only 3 embassies recognize it, all the others are in Tel-Aviv.
I know less the new city and it is anyway less interestigng so I will speak to you about the places I visited...
- Downtown, all turns around the street Ben-Yehuda, with all its shops and tourists, of religious souvenirs not even casher, its shops of clothing, its bars, its McDonald... It is full of young people at any hour, and so many French!
- Mea Shearim, it is exactly the opposite since it is the district of the ultra-orthodox Jews. To visit it, you will be imperatively clohed as they hear it, i.e. out of long skirt and long sleeves for the women, trousers and shirt for the men, if not, the children mightthrow you stones!!! I swear that it is not a joke!!! This district, it is the reproduction of the ashkenazi ghettos of the beginning of the century in Poland for example; time stopped there, it is absolutely seizing... and ultra-impressive.
- Superb museum to be discovered: the museum of Israel, which, on top of its splendid collections in ethnology, history and modern art, contains the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest biblical manuscript ever found Not far, you will be able to visit also theKnesset, the Israeli Parliament (bring your passport if you want to enter), and to admire the large Menorah.
- But I will finish by the visit which marked me most since the beginning of my life in Israel: that of Yad Vashem, the museum of the memory of the Shoah. This museum is held at the same time in buildings, with exposures, and in gardens, with various sculptures. It is free, of course.
You will not spend a GOOD moment in Yad Vashem, but, I wish it for your heart, for your soul, one moment of horror, emotion and anguish.
necessary.
In the hall of the Memory burns an eternal flame at the middle of 21 blocks of stone to the names of the 21 death camps. The Avenue of Right of the Nations is planted of six thousand trees to thank the non-Jews who saved Jews and risked of their life for it; their names are engraved on immense stone walls, classified by country.
As for me, the emotion seized me like never in my life in the house of the children. It is a building of a remarkable sobriety. You enter there, and you are almost in the night, except the flames of some candles which, reflected by hundreds of mirrors, represent the neshamot (souls) of the 600.000 Jewish children who died during the Shoah. During this time, on a tragic music, the names, first names and ages of these small souls are repeated. It is pure emotion, without any artifice.
New buildings have been inaugurated at Yad Vashem this year, primarily turned towards the Memory, the History. Memory... like all the site... I have not returned yet, I think that I will go for Yom ha Shoah and I will then tell you what I felt.
To the people who come to Jerusalem, do not miss this visit... It hurts, but it is necessary to go there...
"Requiem for six million hearts Which do not have their marble mausoleum And which in spite of this infamous sand Have raised six million trees..."
We also visited the Herzl Mount which honours the founder of the movement Zionist, Theodore Herzl. He is buried there, aswell as Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meïr and many Israeli soldiers dead for the defense of their country.
Yesterday, with my darling fiancé we spent the day in Jerusalem and it made me discover a place which I did not know yet: the garden of the Roses, not far from the Knesset. It is a very pretty garden whose characteristic is to be planted only of rose trees which were offered by various leaders of all the countries of the world. Pretty and resting...
We also walked in the forest of Jerusalem, still on the Herzl Mount; it appears that one can see hinds and fawns there, ... fine, I saw a falcon, I was not so lucky...
Just a poem of mine to finish...
I saw a river spouting out of Jerusalem The doves know it, them!
They will say to the four winds of the world If only happiness came to you from Yérouchalaïm, Water of the lips would bring laughter tothe hearts, The torrents would leap like stags in the glances If only...
I was long but the most beautiful city of the world deserves even much more. Thank you for reading me until the end and I hope you appreciated my review despite the language mistakes...
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