A Night In The Capitol

I stayed up too late last night, and yelled way too much, so I have a sore throat this morning. It was well worth it though. I'm at Eli Wald's dorm on Mount Scopus right now, near the Hebrew University campus. For those that don't know, Eli is one of my oldest and closest friends and is interning with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until February. There are a lot of things I had forgotten about this city since the last time I was here. For one, it is one enormous maze; A true urban planning nightmare. Because parts of the city are so old, they were built before cars were common. I am amazed that my bus was able to make it through some of these streets on the way here from the central bus station.

Eli and I in his dorm on Mount Scopus

Another thing to note about Jerusalem is the way the neighborhoods change in the blink of an eye. I counted at least 4 distinctly different areas along the way, and I'm certain that I missed the nuances of several others. The central bus station is in a relatively affluent downtown type area, with shops, hotels and construction projects along the way. We followed this through to an ultra orthodox neighborhood. It breaks my heart to see the way the orthodox live in this country. These neighborhoods are filthy, squalid and dirt poor. More than 50% of orthodox Israeli families live below the poverty line, most by choice. Most orthodox men choose not to work, preferring around the clock Torah study instead, and orthodox couples often have 6 or 7 children. We then pulled into a Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem. I'm as in favor of a united Jerusalem as anyone you will meet, but I can tell you that in 2007 Jerusalem is united in name only. There are no Jews in these neighborhoods, all the signs are in Arabic. It's total segregation. Eventually we wound our way up to Mount Scopus and the neighborhood changed again. This time the streets widened and the buildings looked a little more modern, and eventually I reached the student dorms. Eli and I chilled at his apartment for a few hours and I met all his roommates. Cool guys. While here, we heard the Muslim call to prayer twice through his bedroom window. Just another strong reminder that this is a religious city. Eli likes to joke that he is getting the "Jerusalem Syndrome."

Some of the local Jerusalem "flavor"

The reason for my trip was last night's "Hadag Nachash" concert at the Jerusalem Theatre. Hadag Nachash is my favorite Israeli group. I've seen them once before in concert in Chicago, and they put on a fantastic show, so I was really excited about seeing them on their home turf. The event was organized by the Masa fund, a scholarship program that gives young, non-Israeli Jews money for long term programs in Israel. Once in Israel, Masa organizes programs for it's participants. I guess this knowledge should have tempered my expectations but I was too excited about the concert to consider the organizers or the other participants. Eli and I bused to the theatre with a friend of his, and it became apparent immediately that this was just an American concert located in Israel. I felt like I was at a USY convention.

Sitting on the stage before the show

I did locate the Nativ program while I was at the concert. (Surprised?) Know that they all look very happy and healthy and are enjoying their program immensely. I also saw my old friend (and my brother's old counselor) Alex Freedman, who is studying at the Conservative Yeshiva. The concert itself was somewhat disappointing. Hadag Nachash only played a half set, and there was no opening band. In addition, the sound guy really blew it with this concert. We couldn't here any of the words because he kept screwing with the settings, and their were no outward facing speakers on the stage. We were up against the stage, usually the best place to be at a concert. Last night this meant all the sound was being projected to the back of the hall from speakers behind us. Just terrible. I guess I should have lowered my expectations for a canned Masa program like last night. If those were real fans in the audience, I don't think they would have played us like that.

Hadag Nachash performing "חליפות"

This afternoon I'm heading to Tel Aviv to meet up with Alex Judd, another childhood friend of mine who came to Israel to find himself. For Alex, this meant joining the army. He is now a cook in the army. We are making Shabbat dinner tonight and I'm looking forward to seeing what tricks he has picked up in the kitchen. More adventures to follow, but probably no more sleep. I'll check in soon and post pictures on my weekend. Shabbat shalom.