A Week Off? Plus Kiryat Arba, a Ben-Gvir Sighting, Burger Rankings, and More Friends

 

Synagogue on Jaffa Street I never noticed

I needed a full day of afternoon sleep to recover from the congregational trip, and I was very much looking forward to a week without structured activities before I began the 10 day Hartman Rabbinical Seminar. But that hardly meant a week off. I filled it with all kinds of activities. There is so much for me to do in Israel. And, even at that, as my friend Howard Zangwill reminds me, you should look up every once in a while. I'll explain the picture above at the end. So what exactly did I do? 

Visiting Kiryat Arba. Genesis 23:2 "Sarah died in Kiryat-Arba, also known as Hebron, in the land of Canaan; and Avraham came to mourn Sarah and weep for her." Hebron is one of the most important and controversial cities in Israel. It is where most of our patriarchs and matriarchs are said to be buried, in the Cave of Machpela, the first piece of land purchased by Jews (Abraham from Ephron the Hittite), and it is equally venerated by Muslims. It is a city of palpable tension and has been the site of great violence (Arab riots and murders of Yeshiva students there in pre state Israel and Baruch Goldstein murdering over 20 Muslim worshipers in the 90's on Purim). There are a few Jews and many Muslims in Hebron itself, and there is a large settlement just outside of Hebron called Kiryat Arba (in the Torah they are one and the same place, so the name Israel gave it is very appropriate). I have visited the cave a few times before, but this time I did not visit Hebron itself, but, rather, I went to see my distant cousins, the Lazarus family. 

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A view of Arab Hebron from right outside my cousins' apartment in Kiryat Arba. Notice the fence. The cave of Machpela is on the other side of those homes. 

I was afraid to go out there by myself, so when my 15 year old cousin happened to be in Jerusalem, he agreed to ride the bus back to his home with me. It took 2 hours because of traffic, and I'm pretty sure the glass was bullet proof, but it was still very much a normal ride, albeit through the West Bank with lots of guard towers along the route.

This is a highly politicized place, but to my cousins, it's just the town where they live. Though they don't recommend walking through the Arab part of Hebron to visit the cave except on Shabbat, when many other Jews are doing the same thing, they don't feel it's unsafe at all. The residents I saw there (I'm talking about Kiryat Arba, not the small Jewish section of Hebron itself) are rather diverse. It is not an ultra Orthdox community. I saw many Mizrachi Jews, Asian Jews, Russian Jews, etc. If you didn't have the barbed wire fence staring at you, you would just think it's a regular Israeli small town, which, in fact, it is. Of the cousins, one is quite political and rather right wing, but the others aren't really into politics at all. The youngest one is really into video games, one just finished her year of national service working with special needs children, and the one I see often is all about genealogy. They are quite aware of the way many, including American Jews, view them as "settlers," but, again, to them, it's just where they happen to live. It was fascinating in its ordinariness.

But speaking of settlers, I ran into the most right wing member of the K'nesset, a man many Israelis as well as I consider to be a grave danger to Israel for his views, in the Mahane Yehuda Market. He had a contingent of 6 police escorts, which he needs. Google him if you want to know more about who he is and what he stands for.

Knesset Member Itamar Ben-Gvir of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party

Visiting a Dror Israel "Social" School. On the other wing, Dror Israel, which began as a youth movement, is, according to their website "a pioneering educational movement whose mission is to effect meaningful, long-term educational and social change in Israeli society in order to promote solidarity, social activism, democracy and equality." They are a recipient of a lot of support of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Federation, so they invited me to look at one of their schools in Tel Aviv. The schools are public, but they run differently than most Israeli schools. Each class is about 25 students instead of 45 students (the normal Israeli model is more everyone fend for themselves, which is disastrous for some kids and creates great entrepreneurs on the other). This school tries to be more inclusive and serves a very diverse student body, including kids who didn't do well at other schools, kids who didn't fit in at other schools, lgbtq students, and those who just want a more interesting, diverse environment. They also teach gardening skills, music production, social activism, and have a model that is much less frontal learning. It was really interesting, and they are coming to Beth  Abraham to share a little bit about what they do in August. 

Dror Israel Teachers Ohad Lahav and Zohari Avigdori

The Peres Center. Since I had to be in Tel Aviv anyway, I decided to make a day of it and visited the Peres Center for Peace and Technology. It is definitely more tech museum than peace, but was created by former Prime Minister and President of Israel, the late, great Shimon Peres. It's mostly a super high tech homage to the Israeli tech industry and all their startups. It's very well done with virtual reality and interactive displays, but you can only do it by a highly structured, guided, organized tour, and I much prefer exploring things on my own. And, that's a heck of a view too.

The Burger Rankings. Since I keep Kosher and can't eat at the many gourmet burger places in the Bay Area, I am feasting on the many amazing Kosher burger places in Jerusalem. Both my brother and sons have have had burger rankings at different times, I figured I could do the same in Jerusalem, having sampled many. You also have to understand that there were no good burgers here until about 15 years ago. There was Burger Ranch, McDavids (a poor copy of McDonalds), McDonalds, eventually, and, during rabbinical school, Wendy's for a brief spell but it tasted nothing like the Wendy's I remember from my pre Kosher days.  I didn't take pictures of any of the burgers, but they all do a good job at presentation. Almost all of them grind the meat right there in house, so they really are fresher than most places in America. They're also bigger, at least 1/3 of a pound. In most cases I try to order the same burger, cooked medium and with pickle and tomato. I try to get any sauces on the side. Here, presented, in order.

1. Mojo's. Waygu Beef Sliders. Technically not a burger place, but established by the former owner of Crave, who more or less changed the game around burgers in Israel. He recently sold and established this place instead. Melt in your mouth.

2. Segev Burger. Segev is a famous chef in Israel. Some people won't go there because he is associated with Netanyahu (not his fault Bibi loves his food). Super high quality (at the restaurant not the food truck), and somehow, they even make their sweet potato fries crispy.

3. Rimon Bistro. A fancy meat restaurant but their burger is ridiculously juicy. Order the sauce on the side, as they put way too much on.

4. Crave. No longer owned by the founder, but still really good, and, essentially, everyone copied them. In the old days you could order the "Sam I Am" Burger, which includes a fried egg, vegan cheese, and beef bacon.

5. Smish Smash Burger. On the "umbrella" street Yoel Salomon, a very touristy street, but the burgers were terrific, and the fries nice and thin. I thought they would be lower in the rankings, but they were awesome.

6. Yosef Burger. Near Mahane Yehuda, excellent overall burger, with lots of possible toppings. Weak fries. 

7. Market Burger. Same as Yosef, a few less toppings. 

8. Golden Burger. Near Ben Yehuda Street. Specializes in their "Golden" sauce, and I don't like sauce on my burgers. Nitpicking, though, still high quality. 

9. Smoke Burger. The smoked barbecue flavor is their hook. Too specific and understaffed, but again, I'm nitpicking. It was still really good.

10. Burgers Bar. A chain. Not quite as good as any of the ones above them, but they deserve credit for being the first big, thick, juicy burger. If you like a lamb burger, or a mixed beef/lamb, you're in luck.

11. Tommy's. This one is in my neighborhood of Rehavia, and I wanted it to be better than it was. Tommy's, given the LA iconic small chain, has a lot of resonance in the name, but it was very average, sadly.

People. Once again, lots of people to see while visiting Jerusalem. Friends, colleagues, members of the synagogue, kids on birthright, kids of old friends, you name it, but I love it.

The Hagan family from Beth Abraham

Beth Abraham and Gan Avraham Alums Eliza Kaufman, Gabriel and Noah Bostick

TBA Member and Cal Poly Student EJ Miller

Oakland Teacher and NCSY Director Eliezer Cohen

Northwestern ZBT Brother Mark Stovsky

And speaking of Northwestern ZBT...

Accidental Run In with Northwestern Birthright Trip, go Cats!

Great friend from college Lauren Tatar's son Oliver

High School Friend Barbara Pachetti Apt's Daughter Delaney on Cal Poly Birthright Trip

The Picture at the Top. The picture at the beginning of this post is of a synagogue and yeshiva right across the street from Mahane Yehuda, which I pass all the time. I never noticed it until I saw a tour guide pointing up to it with a group. It was originally built by a tailor named Shmuel Levy. Notice the unusual sculpture on the top. I thought it was a menorah. Turns out it's a sundial made by a man named Moshe Shapiro in the early 1900's, who learned the basics of astronomy by reading a book by the Vilna Gaon from nearly 200 years earlier. Mechanical clocks on both sides show the time in European and Israel. 

Now on to a rabbinical seminar for the next 10 days or so.