Prague Journal

Thursday, April 21, 2005.

Rick and I headed to the Old City fairly early so that we could go to the Temple Mount and visit the Mosques. We found several entrances, but each one was closed. We found out that today is a Muslim holiday, so only Muslims were allowed in the Temple Mount area. Tomorrow morning is the Muslim Sabbath, so we won’t be able to go then either. So we could only see the Mosques from afar. Back at the Western Wall, we saw a swearing-in ceremony for the inauguration of an army Paratrooper unit. Swearing-in ceremonies are held at the wall twice yearly at Passover and at Sukkot. The Paratroopers, considered one of the elite units of the Israeli Defense Forces, were the first of Israeli troops to enter the Old City during the Six Day War in 1967. Their arrival at the Western Wall signified Israel’s victory and marked the beginning of the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli control.
We walked through the old city, to the Jewish Quarter and went in to the Wohl Museum of Archeology, the largest and most important site from the Second Temple times. This compound consists of six houses, built on a hillside overlooking the Temple Mount. In the Herodian Period these were home to some of the wealthiest aristocrats in Jerusalem, apparently from the priestly classes. The inhabitants designed their homes meticulously in the Greco-Roman style that was popular in those times. The visible archeological remains are mainly from the cellars of three houses, each of which were evidently two stores in height. Their content provides a vivid indication of the inhabitants’ wealth. There are numerous storage rooms as well as reservoirs, ritual baths, ovens and such decorative adornments as colorful mosaics, elaborate stucco work and even frescoes. Many luxury items were found there by archeologists who concluded that the residents enjoyed a very high standard of living using only the finest goods, including terra cotta tableware, imported amphorae for wine and delicate flasks. There are also innumerable stone utensils which were especially popular among the priestly caste for reasons of ritual purity. The largest and most impressive home is the House of Measurements which has a floor space of 600 square meters. Its rooms are all richly decorated and there is a large balcony overlooking the Temple Mount. The Herodian Quarter was discovered by archeologists when the Jewish Quarter was rebuilt following the Six Day War in 1967. The museum, constructed in the 1980s, was endowed by Vivian and Maurice Wohl.
From there we went to the Tower of David Museum at the Citadel, just outside the Jaffa Gate, which is known for its three-dimensional zinc model of 19th century Jerusalem, created by Hungarian artist Stephan Illes in 1873. The Citadel was first constructed 2,000 years ago by Herod the Great, and the Tower of David Museum traces Jerusalem’s long and eventful history through displays and exhibits which present Canaanites and Hebrews, Greeks and Romans, Crusaders, Muslims, Turks, British, and Israelis. The panoramic route along the Citadel towers allows breathtaking views of the city and the lush archaeological gardens below Robinson’s Arch.
Inside the Citadel, there was a new train exhibit, with working model trains and a history of the Israel railway. The idea of building a railway in this country was suggested by Sir Moses Montefiore as early as 1839, after the construction of the first public railway in England. But the first track was not laid until 1892. The first train route ran from Jaffa to Jerusalem and was 87 km. long. This distance was covered by the first train in the then astounding time of 3 hours and 50 minutes. In 1904, the Haifa-Bet She’an section of the famous Hedjaz railway was opened, followed a year later by the continuation to Dera’a, junction for Damascus and Amman, followed by the Turkish military railway from Afula to Beer Sheba and the Sinai desert in 1915. In 1919, the British completed the Kantara-Haifa railway line. After taking on the Palestine Mandate, they opened the Petach Tikva line. Rail services also included a daily passenger train between Haifa and Cairo. When the State of Israel was established in 1948, the new government took over management of the railways. Following the War of Independence, the government initiated regular passenger service between Haifa, Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. At that time, the journey took 4 hours. The Tel Aviv Central station was opened in 1954, following construction of a Coastal Line. Nearly ten years later, a Beersheba-Dimona line was completed for freight trains. Following the Six-Day War in 1967, the railway extended to Kantara and Port Tawfik on the Suez Canal. This service continued until the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In 1975, a new railway station for passengers was opened at Haifa-Bat Galim, and the Negev railway was extended to Nahal Zin two years later. In 1988, the Israel Railways were united with the Ports Authority to create “The Ports and Railways Authority.” Further passenger lines were open in the early 1990s and new diesel-electric trains started running in 1992. A commuter line from Tel Aviv to Netanya was instituted in 1993, and a similar commuter line began operating in Haifa in 1996. New passenger coaches and diesel locomotives were brought in from Spain, but the line to Jerusalem was closed in 1998. Just last week, the train line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was reopened. The tracks now pass through Beit Shemesh, following the old route that ascends to the capital via the Refaim Valley. In its press release, the Transport Ministry confidently stated its prediction that it expects strong demand for the train from Beit Shemesh to Jerusalem and Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Spending on the project totaled approximately NIS 480 million (New Israeli Shekels), slightly more than 100 million dollars. The renewed railroad line currently stops in Jerusalem, but only at Malcha, the neighborhood in the southern side of the city, which is very far from the four main focal points of attraction for commuters and visitors: the government compound, the city center, the Old City and Hebrew University. Some critics anticipate that numerous people will try the new line early on, in order to reexperience the beautiful landscape, but will soon abandon its railcars to a small contingent of regular consumers, due to the long duration and relatively high cost of the trip.
We spent the afternoon with Miriam, Ray’s father’s widow. We first went to Mishkenot Shaananim, a fancy restaurant in the Yemin Moshe suburb, easily identifiable by the large windmill at the top of the hill overlooking the Old City and the Hinnom Valley on King David Street. Named for Sir Moses Montefiore, Yemin Moshe was the first establishment outside the Old City walls in 1891. Miriam then took us for a drive around En Kerem, first to the Mt. Tayassim Air Force Memorial and then to the Nature Preserve and the Martyrs Forest, the single largest memorial to the Holocaust in the world. The Martyrs Forest is comprised of six million trees – truly, a living memorial. Four and half million pine trees represent the adults who perished in the Holocaust while 1.5 million cypress trees account for the children who perished. Most impressive is the Scroll of Fire sculpture. Dedicated in 1971 by Bnai Brith, the Scroll of Fire is the work of Warsaw-born Nathan Rapoport. The Scroll of Fire is one of the most beautiful sculptures in Israel. It is an imposing work rich in detail and history, that tells the story of the rebirth of the nation from the Holocaust up to the Six Day War. There are a number of recurring elements in the Scroll of Fire; mother and child, an olive tree/branch, a menorah and much symbolism. The scroll on the right focuses on the holocaust and its survivors while the scroll on the left deals with the struggle to establish a new homeland.
We were back at Ronnie and Yaffa’s house for dinner with Hebrew University folks Tova, a colleague of Ronnie’s; Miheala, the Romanian doctoral student; Uli, the German undergraduate student; and Christiane, a post-doc from Leipsig. Dinner started late, and the conversation pushed the evening even later. It was a real treat to meet and chat with these very interesting and charming people. Rick and Uli dutifully finished all the beer, and we all ate any leftover chemetz (leavening), so that there would be little to clean up in preparation for Passover on Saturday.

posted by JWinn @ 10:27 PM