Street of Jerusalem
Kosher Diet
In the restaurant, there are 2 sections - Dairy and Meat Section.
"Kosher foods are those that conform to the regulations of the Jewish Halakhic law framework. One of the main biblical food laws forbids eating blood on account of the life [being] in the blood.
Three times the Torah specifically forbids seething a young goat in its mother's milk (Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21). The Talmud interprets this as a general prohibition against cooking meat and dairy products together, and against eating such a mixture. To help prevent accidental violation of these rules, the modern standard Orthodox practice is to classify food into either being meat, dairy, or neither; the latter category is more usually referred to as parve from the Yiddish word parev (פארעוו) (also spelled "pareve") meaning neutral."
Well, if you do not want to assume blood on the account of life being in the blood, what is the best way??
BE VEGETARIAN!!! That's the most compassionate way of living. =D
"Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament. The origin of the name is from a Biblical verse: "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (Yad Vashem) that shall not be cut off"."
It is a very good museum that everyone should visit when you are in Jerusalem. It gave me a better perspective of the need to establish a new Israel nation after WWII. However, I still prefers the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC (My all-time favourite).
Took a photo of this gentlemen (even though no photography is allowed), as I was touched to tears when I read his great work to save the Jewish children. His compassion, courage and kindness is highly admirable.
When the kids from the Orphanage was sent to the Ghetto (Gas Chamber) to be exterminated:
"The children were to have been taken away alone. He (Janusz Korezak) had the chance to save himself, and it was only with difficulty that he persuaded the Germans to take him too. He had spent long years of his life with children and now, on this last journey, he could not leave them alone. He wanted to ease things for them. He told the orphans they were going out in to the country, so they ought to be cheerful. At last they would be able to exchange the horrible suffocating city walls for meadows of flowers, streams where they could bathe, woods full of berries and mushrooms. He told them to wear their best clothes, and so they came out into the yard, two by two, nicely dressed and in a happy mood........Korczak was carrying two of the smallest infants, who were beaming too, and telling them some amusing story. I am sure that even in the gas chamber, as the Zyklon B gas was stifling childish throats and striking terror instead of hope into the orphans' hearts, the Old Doctor must have whispered with one last effort, ‘it's all right, children, it will be all right’. So that at least he could spare his little charges the fear of passing from life to death."
Pictures and Book (with names) of people who died in the tragic Holocaust.
They were not just some figures in historical books, they were unique Human Beings like you and I. They had dreams, fears, kinship etc... Yet, Life ended abruptly and tragically for them.
War is a living hell.
Hope this will never happen again in the entire human history.
May All Beings be free from sufferings.
"Jewish Shabbat (Shabbath, Shabbos, Shabbes, Shobos, etc.) is a weekly day of rest, observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturdaynight; it is also observed by a minority of Christians. Thirty-nine activities prohibited on Shabbat are listed in Tractate Shabbat (Talmud)."
List of 39 prohibited activities - includes Driving, but apparently having SEX is allowed!!!
We experienced the inconvenience of Sabbath. Seriously, nobody is working!!! We missed the last bus to the West Bank Border at 3pm, and the road was quite empty at Friday 3pm++. In the end, we had to take a cab (charged at much higher rate) to the Border.
I asked the Cabdriver (A Muslim) if he likes Sabbath. He grinned and replied "Yes!!". I am sure about that.
And thanks to the Sabbath, there was no public bus from Jerusalem to Eilat (Border town to Egypt & Jordan), hence, we ended up changing our itinerary and decided to stay another day in Israel (Tel Aviv), which was a good move.
Well, I was quite happy to experience Sabbath despite the inconvenience, as it is uniquely Jerusalem. =)
To Holyland, anybody?
Signboard at the Border
Huge Wall separating Israel from the West Bank (Palestine)
You can read the controversy over this Huge Wall:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_West_Bank_barrier & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bank#West_Bank_barrier
"Opponents claim the barrier is an illegal attempt to annex Palestinian land under the guise of security,[114] violates international law,[115] has the intent or effect to pre-empt final status negotiations,[116] and severely restricts Palestinians who live nearby, particularly their ability to travel freely within the West Bank and to access work in Israel, thereby undermining their economy.[117] According to a 2007 World Bank report, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank has destroyed the Palestinian economy, in violation of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access. All major roads (with a total length of 700 km) are basically off-limits to Palestinians, making it impossible to do normal business. Economic recovery would reduce Palestinian dependence on international aid by one billion dollars per year.[118]"
"The West Bank (Arabic: الضفة الغربية, aḍ-Ḍiffä l-Ġarbīyä, Hebrew: הגדה המערבית, HaGadah HaMa'aravit)[1] is a landlocked territory[2]and is the eastern part of the Palestinian territories.
Since 1967, most of the West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation as what it calls the Judea and Samaria Area. A smaller part of the West Bank is administered by the Israeli civilian authorities as part of Jerusalem District.
The West Bank was taken control of by Israel, during the Six-Day War in June, 1967. With the exception of East Jerusalem and the former Israeli - Jordanian no man's land, the West Bank was not annexed by Israel. Most of the residents areArabs, although a large number of Israeli settlements have been built in the region since 1967. Close to 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank settlements, annexed East Jerusalem and the former Israeli - Jordanian no man's land areas.
The Palestinian Authority believes that the West Bank ought to be a part of their sovereign nation, and that the presence of Israeli military control is a violation of their right to Palestinian Authority rule. The United Nations calls the West Bank and Gaza Strip Israeli-occupied (see Israeli-occupied territories). The United States State Department also refers to the territories as occupied.[72][73][74] Many Israelis and their supporters prefer the term disputed territories, because they claim part of the territory for themselves, and state the land has not, in 2000 years, been sovereign."
My first impression of West Bank (Palestine) - Third World Country.
A stark contrast to Jerusalem, which is separated by a Wall - not just a physical one.
We took a cab at the border to Church of Nativity (Birth Place of Jesus Christ). We haggled on the price, and the cab driver kept suggesting other churches around Bethlehem, but we declined his offer. When he saw a long traffic jam to Church of Nativity on the hill (since it was X'mas Eve & lotsa people were going there), he dropped us a dark basement of a building and told us to take a lift and walk a short distance, and we would reach our destination. Naturally, we did not believe him. I went down the cab to ask the locals, but none of them understood me. Fortunately, I saw a tourist who informed that I could take the lift to the top of the building and walk to Church of Nativity. And inevitably, the cabdriver was upset that we did not trust him and the whole incident ended bitterly.
On the hindsight, my distrust stemmed from my preconceived idea of Palestinians. All the news about Palestinians were negative - suicide bombing, terrorism, wars, guns etc.... My view and perception was totally influenced by the news created by Western Media, which could be biased. I regretted not trusting the cabdriver, however, anybody in our position would behave the same way as well.
Current President, Palestinian Flag, the late Yasser Arafat, (Nobel peace prize winner)
Interestingly, they use Israeli Shekel in Palestine.
Church of Nativity during X'mas Eve
"The Church of the Nativityin Bethlehem is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world. The structure is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, and thus it is considered sacred by Christians."
Where is the best place in the world to spend New Year's Eve?
New York's Time Square Countdown (Checked)
Where is the best place in the world to spend Christmas Eve?
Bethlehem, Birth Place of Jesus Christ. (Checked)
=)
Unforunately, we could not get into the Church for service, as it was too crowded.
Stage set up in front of the Church of Nativity.
Surprisingly, the crowd was made up predominantly by Muslim Palestinians.
There were performances like singing Christmas Carols from church groups from US & other places. There were Gospel preaching for the majority-muslim crowd as well as live-telecast from the service in the Church of Nativity.
A good-looking Palestinian Youths.
The Palestinians are well-mannered and friendly. It was unfortunate that many people in the world (including myself previously) have negative impression of Palestinians because of the negative news reports.
Flying of the Kongming Lantern (Sky Lantern)
A magical moment that I want to remember forever.
A few Palestinians was trying to fly the sky lantern. It was winter in Bethlehem, so it won't be easy to heat up the air in the lantern. The sky lantern was pushed into the air and descended slowly back into the crowd. The crowds around them (including myself) were waiting in anticipation. The magical moment came when the Sky lantern was finally airborne and flew away.
Everybody was delighted and happy. I looked around me and saw the smiles on everybody's face. It was a magical moment. In the smile, there was no segregation or separation, there was no difference between Christian or Muslim, there was no racial difference, there was no nationality and no labeling of people. There is only one thing - smiling in unity. We are the same. We are all Human Beings.
Isn't that the essence of Christmas?
Rejoicing in peace as a united Human Race.
If only everybody experiences this, there will be no war.
HY making local friends.
=)
The President of the Palestinian National Authority also came to Bethlehem.
This is my first time seeing a President of another Country (disputed country).
=)
Celebration of X'mas on the street
Lotsa Palestinian People
This shows that X'mas has evolved, and people from different religions rejoice and celebrate in peace.
Below is video clip that a Christian Preacher was preaching to a Muslim Crowd, but was interrupted by the Muslim Calling for Prayer. Interesting!!
Founder and Student leader from International Palestinian Youth League.
Website: http://www.ipyl.org/
"The International Palestinian Youth League (IPYL) is an independent non-governmental, non partisan, non religious secular organisation based in Hebron. IPYL was founded in May 1997 by a cross-section of Palestinian youth activists. IPYL’s mission is to empower youth aged 15-35 against social, economical, and political challenges in Palestinian society, which the Israeli occupation has aggravated. As a result of this, Palestinian youth have been denied educational opportunities, sites for cultural activities, and community development resources. IPYL woks on creating core of young community leaders who will act as active citizens taking their responsibilities towards the community development and needs."
It is great to know passionate people who are fighting for a worthy cause. And the founder did mention that the Jews had a difficult time in WWII and was a victim of the Holocaust, however, Jews are not the only victims in the world.
Palestinian Passport
How to get to Palestine?
Taken from: http://www.ipyl.org/volunteering
"There are no borders controlled by the Palestinians, since Palestine is occupied by the Israelis and they control all our borders, lands, air and water. So, for you to come to Palestine you should see and deal with the Israeli army and police.
This is why we can not pick you up from airport. So the visa will be an Israeli one, as we are not yet a recognized country with sovereignty. If you are arriving not through Ben Gurion (Tel Aviv) airport (for example, Eilat airport, land crossing points: Jordan or Egypt), please let us know, since the directions listed below are just for those arriving at Tel Aviv Airport."
It was great to see the situation from the other side of the fence.
The night before, I was in Jerusalem watching a "concert" supporting the building of settlement in East Jerusalem. In the morning, I was in the Holocaust museum understanding WWII and the fate of the Jews, as well as the reason for the establishment of an Israel state. In the evening, I was talking to Palestinian Youth activist about the problems and challenges faced by Palestine.
What a contrast!
It good to get a more balanced view of places and events.
Palestinian Hospitality. =)
A hospitable businessman invited us for a coffee, after we had chatted with him at his shop. He also invited his extended family to join in. It was a wonderful and unexpected experience to make friends with the locals. He opened red wine and his nephew barbecued chicken wings. He invited us to stay, unfortunately, we had to get back to Jerusalem. At around 2am, they drove us to the border and arranged a transport from the border back to the Old City in Jerusalem.
We were very grateful and thankful for their hospitality.
That's one of the highlights of the trip - Meeting nice locals!!!
I love backpacking!!!
Christian, Jewish, Muslim
(ignore the Japan flag)
I was grateful to have the opportunity to have a glimpse of the multi-faceted problems of Israel and Palestine from both perspectives. Prior to the trip, I admit that my impression of Palestinians had been really bad - terrorism, suicide bombers, extremist, fundamentalist etc... I was so wrong.
May be I only met the nice people, and may be it is not a good representation of the whole demographics, as the sample size is small. But at least, from my brief observation of the Palestinians on the street, they are wonderful people.
That's a great thing about backpacking and traveling.
It breaks your stereotypical impression of people.
I am grateful and thankful.
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