Seventh Day - יום שביעי

During a rambling walk from the Yafo (Jaffa) Gate to the Damseq (Damascus) Gate I came across the following mountain of spices:

If only I could have preserved the scents!

A Second Day at the Israel Museum

I returned to the museum today to focus on Jewish culture. First the Rhythm of Life: Birth, Marriage, Death.

I was most interested in the traditions and artifacts relating to marriage, especially in Afghanistan and Yemen. I loved that bridal gowns were recycled into curtains for the Torah Ark, and that the baby bindings used in circumcision were also sometimes from bridal veils, and that some brides wore what would be their burial shrouds under their wedding clothes.

Next I went to the Illuminating the Scripts collection and was utterly fascinated by the Rothschild Miscellany. An intricately illuminated book, with biblical texts, prayers, midrash, ethics, philosophy and astronomy all bound up together in Italy in the 15th century.

In the collection of artifacts pertaining to the Sabbath and Pilgrim Festivals I found a pair of shoes (for use in the miqveh - sacred bath - environment). I don't know how a woman walked in them but I'd be willing to try.
In the section on Holidays and Days of Remembrance, I found an unexpected resonance between the practice in some communities of removing the ark curtain and draping the Torah and bema in black for Yom Kippur and the Christian practice of stripping the altar of its cloths on Holy Thursday and the use of black on Good Friday.
The highlight of the Feasts and Miracles unit was two walls of menoroth (menorahs). I couldn't pick just one; see the variety here.
The Clothing and Jewelry display was also phenomenal. (They use the word "costume" which just sounds patronizing to me.) My favorite was the Yemeni bride, apparently only the embroidery on her leggings and particulars of her tiara differentiate a Jewish Yemeni from a Muslim Yemeni bride.

The highlight, hands down was the section on synagogues. First was a collection of Torah ornaments called Holiness and Beauty. Simple breath-taking. Among those, this 17th century Venetian Torah mantle (with its crown, breastplate and pointer) enabled me to see the Torah in almost human vestments. The Torah looks very much like a medieval (European Christian) priest. Many of these artifacts were designed and manufactured by Jews and Christians who influenced each other and produced sacred objects for both traditions.

Lastly in one of the most ambitions reconstruction projects I have ever seen, the Israel Museum imported the remains of four synagogues from three continents and restored them. The project took a number of years and cost the museum its roof in one section, which had to be removed and raised.

The Tzedek ve-Shalom Synagogue of Paramaribo, Suriname (1736) surprised me with its airy lightness.

(The German synagogue exhibit was very partial. I'm not sure if more is coming. You can see what is there, here.)

The Kadavumbagam Synagogue of Cochin (Kochi) in Southern India dates from 1539–44; it has some of the elements of the oldest synagogue in Cochi that I was privileged to visit in 2006. Some date that community back to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
One nice feature of the Indian synagogues is that the Torah reader is right in front of the women's section so that they can see the Torah, owing to the cultural respect for women in India. (Unfortunately there was no image of that online.)

The last image is of the Vittorio Veneto Synagogue from 1700. I think I have saved the best for last. The picture does not do it justice. I really had to struggle with the temptation to take pictures in there. Just gorgeous.

I have not finished the museum. I'm not sure that I will. But I will return. And there is still the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum, an off-site wing of the Israel Museum in the Old City.

Day Six - יום שישי

I have spent the last two days at the Israel Museum. I scarcely know where to begin. Because they do not allow photography, I am posting public pictures from their website, which is itself a museum-quality curration.

I began yesterday in the Archeology wing, starting with the Dawn of Civilization. Here were the material remains of the first peoples to inhabit the Land (as it is called), long before there were such peoples as Canaanites and Israelites. I was most struck by pear-shaped mother goddesses such as this one from the Neolitic period, some 6500-11500 years ago.
Next it was the Land of Canaan. The life-size, adult size sarcophagi were amazing.
The Israel and the Bible section was overwhelming. There were so many of the artifacts about which I teach in my in/famous slideshows. Together, before my eyes.

I was most impressed with the full-size fortress gate from Hazor dating to the time of Ahab. That was new to me. I had seen the design of the capitals before but had not realized how wide-spread their use was, including in model shrines. I was also really excited by the inscriptions. My favorites were Sennacherib's account of beating Hezekiah and the Dan inscription that mentions "the house of David" for the first time.
Next up was the Early Hebrew Writing exhibit. That may be the one space where I didn't see anything "new" (to me).
The Greeks, Romans and Jews exhibits had amazing ossuaries, only a few of which are online. This image is from the Biblical Archaeology Society. The carving in the limestone is so delicate, yet when names were chiseled in it was clear that the stone-cutters (and perhaps their customers) were either barely literate and didn't care whether the letters were uneven.
Next the Under Roman Rule exhibit (seems not to have representative images on line). The stories of the Jewish revolts against Rome (66-70 and 132-135 CE) are very powerful. I'm always amazed that after the destruction of the temple in 70 that Bar Kokhba was able to muster another rebellion.
For me, the Muslim and Crusader period was well-represented by gold. While not underestimating religious motivations for Jerusalem and the Holy Land were valuable real estate.

The last section was the Holy Land section focusing on Christian pilgrimage. This baptismal font is deep enough for  the water to reach the waist but too narrow for immersion.
One day, one gallery...

יום שילשי- Day Three

Today was a writing day. I worked through two desk chairs - they are quite monastic. The beauty of the day was the sunset from the third, west-facing parapet.

Day Five - יום חמישי

Crusader. The word fills me with dread. My Christian heritage is built on a foundation of bones and blood - and not just the body and blood of Christ: Slavery in the Atlantic and the crusades in the Mediterranean.
Crusader church. It is hard to imagine mercenaries and murderers, rapists and ragamuffins building the church in which I worshipped today. I can only hope that the last thousand years of prayer have in the Abbey of  Saint Mary of the Resurrection have included prayers of penitence on behalf of the Christians who brought such rage and violence to the Holy Land. The sisters and brothers in their respective monasteries have made this a beautiful church. The music - Latin Gregorian chants, French liturgy are breathtaking. And the grounds are exquisite.

 But the word, crusader, still haunts me.

The mosque next door brings me some comfort. The church and mosque share a wall. I like to think that one cannot fall - or be torn down - without the other.

Abu Gosh, the town in which this crusader church and it's neighbor mosque are famous for its music festivals during the Jewish holidays of Sukkot and Shavu'oth. And for its hummus which is a religion of its own. Abu Gosh is also built over Kiriyat Ye'arim, where David kept the Ark of the Covenant for 20 years. And some pilgrims believe Abu Gosh is the true site of Emmaus (and not the other three contenders).
The Ark of the Covenant, the monasteries, the music, the Israelite religious festivals and their contemporary Jewish celebrations, the mosque, the church and the hummus, this is a holy place.