About Jerusalem

So, as you can read, we did some amazing things.  We tried to keep it to one thing in the morning and maybe one in the afternoon with pool time in between.   The City of David probably had the biggest impact.  Maybe the Israel museum.  The city of David was a biblical story of David seeing Bat Sheva and the kids had heard it at school and so when Miri told them the story (and had them kind of act it out) it had the greatest impact.  Miri's ability to bring the story alive for the kids made all the difference.  I think about the tour guide on top of Masada and what a useless event that was compared to what Miri was able to get the kids to understand and appreciate.  The other thing that was readily apparent was that when their were ruins and pictures and models the kids could grasp way more. 

When we were on the temple mount or the dome of the rock, Miri couldn't use books or pictures and the kids had a much harder time grasping and appreciating.  While Ben tried desperately to understand the East Jerusalem thing versus west - he struggled.  We walked the walk of the paratroopers conquering east jerusalem from ammunition hill into the temple mount - and while they certainly got some of it (you can still see the bullet holes) - it is difficult to understand without a good 3D map of jerusalem.  Also, the kids (even Miri's) were totally oblivious to the implications of walking through Silwan or Sheikh Jarrah Quarter. 

Indeed when we were on the Temple Mount (where the Dome of the Rock is), the sirens went off and we started hearing gunfire.  The kids did not notice - but I could see Miri start watching the police and other key people for their reaction.   I wasn't worried - but I was definitely AWARE.  Eventually, Miri called her husband (who is a colonel in the army) who knew of nothing - and he would have known of something.  But it started getting more loud and more frequent.  Eventually (5 mins) we noticed it was fire works.  And Miri asked someone why there were so many - the arab kids had just finished school for year and were lighting off fireworks.  But it was clear people were paying attention.  The Israeli's were - but the arabs didn't move or seem to notice. 

When we went back to the western wall side, it was clear that the fireworks were making people nervous.  There were also helicopters flying low (which is not allowed).  But Miri was very confident that the reason (school letting out) was accurate given the way that nobody on the temple mount had reacted.  It was an interesting experience.  I never really felt nervous.  But I was definitely aware and paying attention to everybody and everything.  The kids had no idea.  They were oblivious.  Shocking, I know.