Three Trips to Jerusalem (and an extension to Hebron)

So, in the span of 17 days, we took three trips to Jerusalem. We had an amazing day there with my parents on Helen's birthday and were comfortable returning 6 weeks later to navigate our way on our own. It's an easy trip and not an easy trip. We walk about 25 minutes to the main bus junction in Ra'anana (granted, we could take a bus to get there, but we do like to walk), then we climb on a bus for a ride that takes 75-120 minutes depending on the traffic. That lands us at the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem and from there, there's a light rail that gets us to the Old City or more buses to get us where we might want to go. Costs about $16 a person roundtrip (half that for the school-aged kids).


Our first trip was on a Sunday when we went to see friends who live in Jerusalem. For one of them, Josh S., this was the first time we met in person, and we have a picture to prove it. The second person was Katja, a grad school friend of Josh L.'s, and it was lovely to catch up (and we have a picture to prove it, but not on my camera). It was nice to be in Jerusalem to see people instead of stuff, to feel like residents of Israel rather than tourists.

Our second trip was exactly two weeks later with our cousins traveling from Bulgaria, Jon and Carrie. We went in to see the Old City and took a tour of the temple tunnels. These were super cool! It was also fun to show Jon and Carrie some of the highlights of the Old City such as the Kotel and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It was a cold a rainy day by time the afternoon came around, which was not pleasant, but it is all part of experiencing Israel (and Jerusalem, in particular) in December. It took quite a while to get home because of traffic in the rain, but we're all glad we made it to Jerusalem together! (And the younger Levys got to miss three Sundays in a row of school to be in old cities: Jerusalem, Plovdiv/Sofia, Jerusalem!)

Our third trip was just two days later, and only Josh and I went. Once we got to Jerusalem, we took a city bus to a specific parking lot where we met a tour bus headed to Hebron operated by a group called Breaking the Silence (BTS). This is a controversial group within Israel, but from where I sit as an American liberal Jew who has struggled to wrestle with this issue from across an ocean, they didn't feel controversial: they oppose the occupation of the Palestinian territories on moral grounds and from first-hand experience, they believe in Israel's right to exist, and they do not support BDS. It was a compelling trip. I have new knowledge of the history and complexities of this ghastly state-of-being and definitely understand that I barely understand anything at all. I walked the deserted streets of the H2 area of Hebron, looked at a lot really upsetting street art, listened to BTS's take on why Hebron is a ghost town, and will continue to process and think for a long time. One question that the tour guide returned to over and over concerned the idea of security and questioning what it means in different contexts and what the cost (especially ethical) is. I think the occupation is horrible, and it was important to me to witness and learn about it while I was here.

As a side note, we were gone from 6:15 a.m.-5:45 p.m. that day. The girls got themselves up, out, and to and from school. I was coming down with a cold and Josh had to go immediately to work, so we sent them back out to bring home pizza for dinner for all of us (ordered in Hebrew by Gabi).

We will be making one final (fifth) trip to Jerusalem as a family in two more Sundays (our last Sunday here). We're going to take the girls to Yad Vashem, which is the Holocaust Museum, and then do a sunrise hike up Masada followed by a visit to Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea. That will check off pretty much everything from our bucket list just two days before we leave.