Dad's Trip 1

So I have basically been doing some not-so-interesting touristy things for a while, but I will give a quick overview of them:

This is the Kotel (Western or Wailing Wall), the holiest site Jews go to today. When the Temple still stood, this was the retaining wall of the mountain. It is all Jews have left of our Temple.
For thousands of years, Jews have not been allowed to go near the Wall. In recent times, Jews had to stand far away, behind a fence. It was all some could to to get a glance at this Holy site. It was a garbage dump for the Arabs who controlled the land.
Today the Wall serves as a connection between many elements of the world: almost ever-lasting rocks are filled with plants, birds, and notes written by man. And they are all singing the praises of G-d.

Did I say that was the holiest site? I meant this is. This picture was taken at the section of the Kotel that was closest to the Kodesh Kedoshim (Holy of Holies). This was the place, when the Temple stood, that the High Priest (yes, Jews had them first too...) would go to on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur.
If not for the religious significance, this site is an ancient marvel of architecture. As in accordance with Herodian arcitechture, there was no mortar or cement used and each stone's border was chiseled in about 1/2-1 inch. Each stone was inlay, towards the inside of the Wall, about 1 1/2 inches. This was for the visual appeal of the Wall not "falling" on a bystander, at it towered over the street level. There are some stones used in the wall that are too heavy, many times over, for any modern machine to lift.
This portion of the Wall is underground. In the times of the Temple, destroyed about 70 Common Era (abb. C.E.), this was groundlevel. Over the next two thousand years, layer upon layer of houses and streets cover this site that is so rich in meaning to the Jews.

There is not so much water in Israel. I mean, it is a desert...
So in the times of the first Temple, King David built an underground channel to carry water into a large cistern.
The channel is now a tourist attraction, since us modern people cannot stomach this water anymore.
I went on a little detour in the tunnels, probably off limits. But I found a wallet of a girl who had, upon investigation, come only two days earlier. Her name was Adina. There was about the equivalent of 30 USDs inside. When we went to the front desk and asked if there was a lost wallet report, sure enough Adina had already inquired to them.

I felt like such a good citizen :)

Almost nothing has touched me more from Dad and Paula's trip than Paula's openmindedness. It is really hard to accept a country and a culture when you feel that they havent accepted you. But despite all preconceptions, I believe Paula has come to find that the people here do accept her. And in return she bought a frummy hat, and even started covering her hair on holidays .
Dad is pretty excited about this. And the whole world is smiling that she didn't buy a snood... heh heh heh

Passover is coming, and all of Isreal is getting ready!!!
At many street corners, people are waiting to "kasher" (go through the process of making something kosher) their utensils they want to use for Passover. Bread is forbidden on Passover, so any items which have absorbed the flavor of something that could contain bread must be rekashered for the holiday.
The method of boiling out the flavor is seen here, where usensils that are not directly touching food and flame (like the oven itself or a deepfryer) can be dipped in the very hot boiling water and then directly into cold water.

In Judaism it is usually advised not to waste food. But before the special holiday of Passover, many keep the mitzvah of burning any remaining food that could contained leavened bread in it (even the tiniest amount of crumbs could make something not acceptable to eat during this holiday).
In Isreal, there are streets sprinkled with public fires so that those who need to can destroy any remaining foods which aren't Kosher for Passover.
These fires mark the end of a long, long process of cleaning that each and every Jewish household goes through. It is kind of the first sign of freedom (from the cleaning), the marked theme of the holiday.