August 26, 2022

We went to the Israel Museum with Barkers on Sunday.  We’d done the archaeology part before, so we started in the Jewish Art and Life.  They had four reconstructed synagogues (from Bavaria, Venice, Surinam, and India) and many wonderful artifacts of Jewish religious life.  We zipped through the fabulous art galleries—we’ll have to return to finish those.  Stopped for falafel by Damascus Gate, and then to Baladi’s for groceries. Grocery shopping is always an adventure and a lot of luck is involved in finding what you need and want.

Venice

India

 Surinam

On Tuesday another wonderful afternoon in the Old City.  First we walked through Teddy Park and saw a whole bunch of Israeli kids playing in the water fountains that shoot up. Nice on a hot day!  Then we surprised Rabbi Matt Berkowitz by dropping in at his studio in the Artists’ Colony just below Jaffa Gate, where he was at work.  He showed us some of his wonderful paintings and publications and also introduced us to David Moss (camera shy), whom Rabbi Matt described as “the Walt Disney of Israeli artists,” for his many and famous paintings and other artistic creations.  We enjoyed our visit with him in his studio as well.  

                     

                             His 27 Illuminations on the Exodus

We then entered the Jaffa gate, intending to go to the Citadel (Tower of David), but instead visited the Anglican Christ Church on a hunt for information for the pipe organ that used to be there.  No one had information about that, but Jim was shown the little harmonium from England and played a hymn on it.  

           

Then we had a great walk through the Christian Quarter, doing a little shopping, but mostly looking, chatting with merchants and people-watching. We never tire of walking through these exotic corridors. Everything and everyone here is photogenic. 

 

Shaaban, our friendly shopkeeper

                                 Modern menorahs

We also walked past the little door to the courtyard of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist that we had never found open.  This time by luck it was open and we were able to spend a few minutes in the church before a service was to begin.  What a gorgeous, elegant, ornate little church.  This is now one of our favorite churches in Jerusalem.

                  

         

Jim walked over to the Church of Ascension again and talked to the abbess of the monastery who very kindly gave him the (giant) key to the tower, which was built so pilgrims could see the River Jordan from afar.  The 360-degree views from the top of this tower are the most spectacular he had seen yet.  The guidebooks mention an 8-ton bell which was hauled over 40 miles from Jaffa by mostly female pilgrims, but they don't talk about the rest of the bells.  Jim was able to see the bells, but not play them—although he honestly couldn’t figure out from the maze of cables strung around the belfry how it could be played.  The clapper alone on that largest bell must weigh a ton! 

In the afternoon Jim took a drive to Mea Shearim, the ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhood not far from the Old City. It was founded in the late 19^th century for Lithuanian and Polish Jews. All the guidebooks say that they don’t appreciate tourists.  Jim just drove through some of the streets but never got out of the car (there was no parking anyway).  It was clear that he would have stood out like a very sore thumb in that neighborhood where all the men were wearing black clothes and hats. (No pictures for this adventure.)

Took the bus with Barkers to Damascus Gate and then walked to Notre Dame de Jerusalem where we took a look in the Shroud Museum. Also said hello to Fr. Cristobal, the organist there.  Then across the road to New Gate where we met up with Yakoub, the organist at St. Savior’s.  He let Jim play the Rieger organ.  Interesting guy, not as friendly as the others we've met, but he did say they have an organ festival, and maybe he’d contact Jim?  We’ll see.  

We walked back down the hill to Damascus Gate and had falafel and passion fruit slush. Next, down to the Rockefeller Museum.  Very 1930’s but sort of neat that way.  Older, dustier, mustier collection, a lot of treasures.  The courtyard was the best, with its garden and fountains. 

                               

 Tilework!!

        You can see the Jerusalem Center on the hill.

We and the Barkers walked over to the Dome of the Ascension, now a mosque, and is another traditional site of Jesus’s ascension.  There is even a stone with a footprint in it.  The acoustics are amazing for such a small chapel. We enjoyed singing some hymns.

                               

And one more attempt to go up in the bell tower at the Russian Orthodox Church of Ascension. Let's just say that the nuns were not having a good day. They were not handing over the key. We did finally see the stone where Mary is said to have stood and watched Christ ascend to heaven. One side of the stone is located outside the chapel, the other inside.

                   

                                    

This will be a busy week. The next semester of students arrive on Wednesday. There will be a lot more energy in the Center for sure! The 2022-2023 concert series officially opens on September 4 and the tours begin September 7! We are ready.

 August 19, 2022

This week, Jim went on another organ “crawl” by himself (he didn’t think Deanne or the Barkers would enjoy it so much).  He started at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, where he met up with Michael-Peter Seifried, the German organist of that church as well as the Lutheran Church of the Ascension right near us, with the wonderful Sauer organ.  He was very friendly, demonstrated the Schuke tracker organ, and he heard him play a very stylish Bach Prelude in F major (from the 8 Little) for prelude, and then the opening hymn with many stop changes that illustrated the hymn text.  He’s a pro!  

 Saint Savior Church 

                                      Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

 Michael-Peter Seifried

Since Jim was right by the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, he went in and was surprised to see how few people there were.  We've never been able to go into the traditional tomb because there is always a long line.  But no line today.  You have to stoop to go in, and only two people can be in there at the same time.  It pays to go in the morning!  

 

Unction stone in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Jim went on a wonderful walking tour all over the Old City, exploring alleys and corridors to his heart’s content. He found the Arch of St. Mary, the Church of St. John the Baptist, found the entrance to the Hurva Synagogue (will go in another time), walked through the excavated Cardo, which was the main thoroughfare of Byzantine Jerusalem.  You can look down in places and see how much lower the ground was 2000 years ago. We never tire of walking through the markets in the Muslim quarter, crowded as they are.  

 Arch of St. Mary

 Cardo

 Jewish students

Later that same day, Jim drove to Yuval Rabin’s house.  He is the most prominent Israeli organist and such a friendly guy.  In his home he has a piano, harpsichord, clavichord, and a small German tracker organ.  He has four nice kids, and his wife works at the Einstein Archives at Hebrew University. 

 Yuval Rabin

We had our weekly field trip with the Earnshaws and Barkers.  We went to Abu-Gosh, an old town in the Judean hills about 12 km west of Jerusalem, famous for centuries as a caravanserai on the way from the coast to Jerusalem.  First we visited the Church of Notre Dame de l’Arche de l’Alliance (Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant), where the Ark of the Covenant is said to have rested for 20 years (1 Samuel 7:1-2) until David took it to Jerusalem. 

 

Church of Notre Dame de l’Arche de l’Alliance

Then to a wonderful Crusader church, the St. Mary of the Resurrection Abbey. It was begun in Roman times, and in 1143 Crusaders identified the site with the village of Emmaus and built the crypt and church.  The grounds are a beautiful oasis.  Jim was particularly interested in the little one-manual pipe organ (of course) with its wildly painted case.  It was built in 1986.  He asked if he could play it, so he played a few pieces and improvisations on Gregorian chants.  Sounded right in that very old church.  

 

St. Mary of the Resurrection Abbey

Next we visited the Ahmad Grand Mosque in Abu-Gosh, our first visit to a mosque since we arrived.  It is the second largest mosque in Israel.  Completed in 2014, it is named after Ahmad Kadyrov, the Chechnian president who was assassinated in 2004.  The women had to wear head-coverings.  Seeing an electronic sign-board with the prayer times seemed a little anachronistic, but why not?  

Ahmad Grand  Mosque

We ended our trip with lunch at the Abu-Gosh Restaurant, which holds a Guinness World Record for serving the largest dish of hummus in 2010, 9016 lbs. of hummus.  We didn’t eat quite that much, but it was a wonderful lunch with all the varied Palestinian salads, sides, fries, and meats on skewers.

We took a long walk with Barkers to Hebrew University, fun to see that again. We found the student center which had a wonderful bookstore and office supply store.

We met with Eran Hayat (the director at the Jerusalem Center) and his staff to talk about reopening the tours on September 7! Great news for us. Admittedly, it is too quiet here without the students! They bring such energy. The next group arrives August 31. The new faculty is coming this week and we look forward to working with them. 

Another morning walk with Barkers took us to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension. It is very close to the Center. In the ornate church is a stone on which Mary is said to have stood at Christ’s ascension. They also have a small chapel with a mosaic indentation in the floor where the head of John the Baptist was supposedly found :/ We continue to discover so much here!

  

             Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension

And we are grateful for the fast work done by the maintenance staff here when we discovered black mold on the entire wall behind the cabinet in our bathroom hallway. Evidently an A/C pipe had been damaged and was leaking through the wall. Luckily, they bleached and repainted the wall very quickly. (We'll spare you a picture of the mold!)

Both of us ventured out for our first haircuts since arriving. Let's say Jim had a less pampering experience than Deanne did. He didn't get worried until the barber asked if he wanted "knife" (razor) or "machine" to trim around his ears...