A few more photos from our Ateret Cohanim tour of the Old City of Jerusalem. And yup, more colorful doorways.
Psychedelic doorway and courtyard. My eyeballs felt like they were being stabbed by forks.
Observe the lovely rhythmic patterns of the jig-saw stonework. I think it’s Ottoman.
Hijab Barbie placed above and beside traditional Western Barbie.
Black and white door. It’s definitely got that Franz Kline thing going on.
Nothing like acid green and pink to bring on a flashback to the wretched 60′s.
My favorite doorway. Security on Jewish homes and institutions in the Old City is super tight. The Cousins demand Judenrein neighborhoods—and nations.
This is the entrance to Har Habayit, the Temple Mount, Judaism’s most holy site. But Jews are forbidden entrance. The armed guard is an Arab. His job is to make sure that Jews do not enter and violate Jew-hating Islamic sensibilities. We asked the guard how he was able to identify Jews. He smiled and said: “I am Muslim, I know a Jews.” Then he hugged and exchanged pleasantries with Daniel Luria (far right), our Ateret Cohanim guide.
Beautiful texture, and just love the keystone.
A Chassid davens, prays, at the Kotel, the Western Wall. Jew, Christian, Muslim or Martian have freedom of access.
Karen places a kvittel, prayer note, in the Little Kotel, the Little Western Wall.
And finally, I was interviewed by Judean Eve on Israel National radio, Arutz Sheva yesterday morning. I discussed being an Orthodox Jew in Hollywood, a Conservative Republican in Hollywood, the First Nefesh B’Nefesh International Jewish Bloggers Conference, my novel The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden, the current Israeli government as the new Judenrat, Shabbos in Efrat and yes, I got all mushy about How I Married Karen.
If you have any desire to listen to yours truly talk about, um, yours truly—endlessly and tediously in horrifying Brooklynese—just click here.
Last night, Karen listened to the broadcast and said: “Robert, that was an excellent therapy session for you.”
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
24 Comments
Mordechai:
My father still laments the departure of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Seriously.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I have a friend who graduated from Maale and now works there. Email me and I’ll put you two in touch.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Orieyenta:
The guard, as a Muslim, has a Jew-sniffer built into his racist DNA. He said as much. If I were you, I wouldn’t test the miserable bigot. He’d shoot you and then praise Allah.
Hey, I looked around for Hasidic Barbie.
No show.
Love that you love my Brooklynese. But I have to confess, when I hear me, I cringe.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
We asked the guard how he was able to identify Jews. He smiled and said: “I am Muslim, I know a Jews.”
I wonder if he would identify me as a Jew
Hijab Barbie – oh my. If LO saw that, she would have had to have one.
And for the record, we love your Brooklynese.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hey, I have a word: evil.
That works.
Astounding how this sort of thing can go on in the heart of a Jewish state, particularly given the sworn intent of its neighbpurs to wipe it off the face of the Earth at the nearest convenient opportunity.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Robert,
I once heard Rabbi Meir Kahane להבח”ל debating a PLO representative on the radio. (Mercifully, I forget his name.) The PLO guy said “Rabbi Kahane, you are not Israeli…. You should go back to Brooklyn.”
Without missing a beat, Rabbi Kahane said, “How can I go back to Brooklyn, after the Dodgers left?!”
By the way, you might enjoy this article from way back when I edited Shma Yisrael Magazine for Ohr Somayach: Jerusalem Quartered http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/1014
Good Shabbos,
Mordechai
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Yisrael:
Thanks so much for the fascinating bit of history and the link. Pretty neat pic.
No, don’t know Chaim Fischgrund.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Mark:
Thanks so much. I just point and shoot my little Canon. No photoshop, no filters, no art. I just try and keep it in focus.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Rahel:
I’ve heard about the religious film school and it sounds like a great idea.
But the proof will be in the films that are produced by the graduates of this school.
I look forward to screening films produced by the graduates of this school.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Kishke:
So you did.
Excuse: I am deeply jet-lagged.
Truth: And somewhat dyslexic.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hospitaller:
Hey, I have a word: evil.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Ah, the Old City byways and alleyways. We arrived there in September 1970 (the pre-NBN age when the ice-cold blasts of Jewish Agency bureaucracy were at their coldest) and lived for a year in the Jewish Quarter. Those memories. Wait for the book.
But if you want to see another picture taken in that area you were in, just a few meters south of the YI of the Old City on Rechov HaGuy, you can peek in another blog I share in its postings, here at the North American Betar blog. It’s not for the squeamish. Notice my stance – pure The Bronx.
P.S. Robert may recall somone like Chaim Fischgrund?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Great pix!!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I agree with you about the wretchedness of our film industry, but what about Maale, the religious film school here? In my opinion they are doing very important work, and a television series by one of their graduates is currently very successful here.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I said “to be nitpicky!”
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The armed guard is an Arab. His job is to make sure that Jews do not enter and violate Jew-hating Islamic sensibilities.
Words fail me.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Pearl:
Yup, it’s the official Seraphic Press baseball cap, guaranteed to make those who wear it top notch screenwriters.
Everywhere we went people asked: “What’s Sephardic Press.”
It’s like we stumbled into a nation of dyslexics.
Sheesh.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Rahel:
It’s something of an academic debate: which accent is more grating on the nerves, Brooklyn or Bronx.
I’m agnostic on the matter.
But then here in CA we have the distinctive Valley Girl accent.
Horrifying, but adorable.
I have more pictures, but fair warning, no cats. I look at our feline buddies and my muse just shuts down.
Go figure.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
That IS a Seraphic Press hat Karen is wearing, is it not? Good free publicity… She should’ve worn the hat and tote bag, then slapped the bookplates all over her clothing. Now THAT would have been ideal marketing!!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I don’t find Brooklynese horrifying at all. I find it great! I’m originally from the Bronx.
(Speaking of things New York, as far as I know there is only one place in Israel where one can get a black-and-white cookie, and that is right here in Jerusalem.)
I enjoyed your interview, and I hope to see more of your pictures.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Kishke:
I’m so glad you have decided not to be nitpicky:-)
But really, thanks for the clarification.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Mata Hari:
This blog is a combination memorial, therapy, film history, and whatever:-)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Very interesting pictures.
To be a bit nitpicky, those idenitified as chassidim are not necessarily so. What they are wearing is Yerushalmi weekday garb (the differences are obvious if you’re in the know, but too tedious to explain here). Most (many?) of the Yerushalmis are not chassidim (for example, they daven Ashkenaz and follow minhag haGra). Some are chassidim (notably, the Karliners and R’ Areles); they too wear the Yerushalmi garb and are indistinguishable from the non-chassidim.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I thought this whole blog was a therapy session
Like or Dislike:
0 
0