F Train to Paris

In which a Jewish family from Brooklyn moves to Paris, France for two years of work, school, and adventures.

 

It takes only four hours to fly from Paris to Tel Aviv. That's close enough to make a long weekend worthwhile, especially when there's a special reason to go. Last year E. and I attended a family bat mitzvah in Oranit, and last weekend R.and I flew to Israel for a wedding. R. turned 13 on May 26th, a significant birthday for a Jewish boy, of course. His actual bar mitzvah will take place next October back home in Brooklyn, but to commemorate this milestone, I invited him to join me on the trip. The bride, Jessica, is the sister of my very close friend Beth, and I have known the whole family for close to 20 years.

We arrived in Israel on Thursday in the late afternoon, went straight to Oranit where my stepsister and her family live, and went with them to a bonfire in honor of the holiday Lag Ba'Omer. Israelis all over the country built bonfires (a tradition that recalls Jewish revolts against the Roman empire), and later that night, as we rode to Jerusalem in a taxi, the air was heavy and gray with smoke.  In the morning, we went to the wedding, which was held outdoors in the courtyard of Beit Shmuel, an educational and cultural center just outside the Old City.

In New York, a house is considered practically ancient if it's built before 1950. In Paris, anything built after the mid 19th century is new. In Israel, there's a wondeful contrast between old--meaning a couple of thousand years, or more--and new--meaning anything built post 1950. Our trip involved mainly the new: we flew into the brand-new Ben Gurion airport, open less than a year; visited Oranit, a community built in the 1980's; and toured (with my cousin Marc--thanks for chauffering us around!) the new museum at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial complex on Har Herzl in Jerusalem.

Most exciting, we celebrated a new family at Jess and Daniel's wedding, and on Sunday morning we met my friend Karni's two-week-old baby. But it's impossible to visit Israel without getting a taste of the old. For me, the most moving aspect of an extremely beautiful and emotional wedding was seeing Jess and Daniel, surrounded by their family and friends, participate in the traditional rituals of a Jewish wedding against the backdrop of the walls of the Old City. I have to admit I was so caught up in the ceremony that I hadn't even noticed the view. Then, just before Daniel broke the glass, everyone began to sing "Im Eshkachech Yerushalyim (If I forget thee Jerusalem)," Psalm 137:5, and I suddenly looked past the chuppah and remembered where I was.

The second-to-last thing we did before leaving Jerusalem for the airport was to visit the Kotel (Western Wall) and wander around the Jewish quarter of the Old City (which is itself a fascinating mix of old and new, since it was rebuilt post 1967).

What was the last thing we did? R. wanted a pair of Naot sandals, so we found a store in the newer part of Jerusalem and bought them before heading for the airport. When you go to Israel, you gotta shop!

Mazal tov, Jess and Daniel! Thank you to the entire clan for making me feel like part of the family. Happy  birthday, R.--even though you abandoned me for your friends, I loved traveling with you. And thank you, Ralph, for holding down the fort so I could go to Israel.

Lisa's Travel Tips: If you’re planning a trip to a Jerusalem and can’t afford to stay at the King David, I recommend Little House in Bakah, an inexpensive small hotel in a charming neighborhood. We’ve stayed there a couple of times and have enjoyed getting to know this part of Jerusalem, from which you can walk to the Old City or downtown. The neighborhood’s two main drags, Emek Refaim and Derech Beit Lechem, are lined with cafes, boutiques, and sandwich shops. (You could call it the Park Slope of Jerusalem.) We particularly like Shraga and Kalo on Derech Beit Lechem, and Café Hillel on Emek Refaim (get a jar of their fig jam to bring home). If you’re there over Shabbat and want to attend services, try Shira Hadasha, a (believe it or not!) Orthodox egalitarian minyan. It’s located in a youth center at the northern end of Emek Refaim, just north of Rechov Lloyd George. The singing is transcendentally beautiful--I suspect they audition new members before letting them join.

posted by: pariskleinmans at 09:41 | link | comments |