The earth has revolved many times since I have spilled thoughts on the blog. The attack angle of the sun has shifted one way and begun to shift back. It’s time to start:
I am sitting in my apartment in Jerusalem (a 2 1/2 month lease) in the neighborhood of Rechavia around the corner from the Prime Minister and the Presidents houses. I spent 45 days in the USA until last week when I returned to Israel.
Beforehand, I stayed in my bohemian bungalow in Tel Aviv close to the beach in a trendy fashionable neighborhood with my dog, Casha. The reason for the move is to enroll in a 2-year tour guide course in English. It is intensive and comprehensive. I also needed a break from the monotony of temporary although too long of a retirement in the beach city of Tel Aviv. Mostly, as I have not had full time employment in some time now, I must find a way to support myself in Israel. That necessity will take precedence over the tour guide course. Thus, I only know that the next two months of my life will be in Israel. I love living in Israel but must get my career back on track. While we all long for extended vacations and early retirement, I long to get back into the game and compete. I have been doing some consulting for real estate and some non-real estate projects for other companies. However, this has been on a part-time basis. I have a new company that I am starting that, will success, will require me to spend/live much more in the USA.
Jerusalem sits on a major earthquake prone fault-line at the intersection of the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The tectonic plates have already ripped Africa and much of Europe away and we are still moving. It is one hour from Tel Aviv, a humid city on the Mediterranean. It is in the mountains, 2577 feet above sea level, and some 30 minutes from the Dead Sea which sits 3865 feet beneath the city. I find it spectacularly more beautiful than Tel Aviv. Like Washington D.C., this capital city has beautiful parks and plazas with a plethora of mixed historical monuments at every step. The city is in the midst of installing a light rail line through the city. However, excavations continue to uncover precious artifacts along the entire line, delaying the development. This is a waste of time and money for my many commercial real estate friends around the world but a core moral value for me and my liberal friends and family. Of course, this exact exercise of demolition and reconstruction has been the norm for this city in the exact same spots for several thousands of years. My next door neighbor, by the way, is dead. He rests in his tomb encased in a stone building surrounded by small gardens with a pyramid cresting the top. He is from a wealthy family from the Maccabean times of around 300 BCE. Casha and I stroll around his yard every day..........trying not to pee on him.
Jerusalem has become more densely populated with religious Jews over the last 10 years. The more secular have tended to leave for Tel Aviv and less tense environments. You feel it: Tension, depth, passion, spirituality, intensity. It's like nowhere else. Last Sunday I was able to join an all-day tour of flora and fauna with another class studying to be tour guides. I was up at 5:00 and returned home at 7:30 PM. The class was in English and there were Orthodox Jews, Evangelical Christians from around the world, and Christian and Muslim Arabs. This group gets together three times a week to tour and study. I felt the different passions toward the land from the different groups. While the Jews cherished the land and the lengths with which the country preserves it, the Arabs mourn as they vines and vegetation that has fought back to cover the few remaining stone walls of what were destroyed villages of recent wars. This destruction and reconstruction has been the norm in this land for millennia.
A friend from Tel Aviv called me the other day to invite me to participate in a tradition of Shiva Brachot (Seven Blessings) here in Jerusalem. After a wedding, religious Jews have a dinner each night with groups of people to bless their union. This was a young couple that was married the night before. They needed at least 10 men to have a minion (women don't count toward a minion) to enjoy a meal at a restaurant, say blessings, sing, etc. I really enjoyed the experience. The lovely young couple met 4 months earlier and was about 20 years old. I was told that the bride has special powers during these times to give blessings to others (i.e. ask G-d to grant wishes). The national sport of Israel is matchmaking. So, as some of the women were thinking of possible matches for me, I was asked if I minded if the woman was one to cover her hair, if I observed Shabbat, etc. This is a different culture, of course, but I like it. The people so far are warm and inviting. Last night I was walking the dog and was pulled to a table in a small café by a 52 year-old woman who had me join her for dinner. It ended up with a 2-hour tour around Jerusalem. I learned a lot. My American side was saying, "What does she want?" and "Why is she so kind to me?" It would not have happened in America.
More immediately, I am hoping to know this city that is the obsession of millions around the world. Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, Al Quds. Call it your name of choice. It is united capital city of Israel. It is also a land that most of the world wants to divide to make the most important parts the capital of a new state, Palestine. Just yesterday, the world press obsessed about a new “settlement” in East Jerusalem announced during the visit of US Vice-President Joe Biden. The world is in an uproar about this. To me, this is like saying that Atlanta is building a new upscale settlement in East Point. There are many unsold “settlements” in Mid-Town in Atlanta, the united capital of Georgia. I am all for Arabs moving into Jewish areas and Jews into Arab areas. Jerusalem is one city with equal rights for all. Let’s mix up the neighborhoods. If religious Jews want to live in a mainly Arab area, the government will probably be more likely to improve the infrastructure of the area. I am for it. We will see what happens.
רנדי
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