PHOTO ESSAY BY ELSA WOLMAN KATANA
Jerusalem is a port city on the shore of eternity.
—Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai
Other cities in the world speak to me—Amsterdam, Beijing, London, and San Francisco—but Jerusalem is my favorite. In love and solidarity, and seeking some serious emotional, mental, and spiritual R&R, I made two different trips in the last year from my current home in Baltimore.
As a Jew and an Israeli, only in Israel could I find refuge from the general refusal of the world to acknowledge the atrocities of October 7, 2023. In Jerusalem, my world spins on center.
Everywhere the stone is pink at sunset. Yemin Moshe is the oldest neighborhood continuously inhabited by Jews in Jerusalem. It was one of the first neighborhoods built outside the walls of the Old City. The original building, Mishkenot Sha’ananim, is now a cultural center and guesthouse for writers, intellectuals, and musicians. Private gardens with old plantings of bougainvillea, cypress, and pomegranate create a lush and splendid public space.
The rimon (pomegranate) is one of the Seven Species of the Land of Israel, as listed in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 8:8: “a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey [dates].” Each of the Seven Species is associated with one of the seven lower sephirot on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The sephirot are divine attributes that every soul possesses. Because of its multitude of seeds, the pomegranate has come to symbolize the 613 mitzvot (commandments) and knesset (a gathering or assembly) of Israel.
The German Colony (Moshava Germanit) is a Jerusalem neighborhood that was established by the Templars in the second half of the 19th century. Modeled presumably after the Knights Templar of the 11th century, the Templars were Christians who broke away from the Protestant church and encouraged their members to settle in the Holy Land. Today the main street of the Moshava is lined with lovely small shops, markets, and cafés.
Graphic design is strong in Israel. Frame-worthy art is plastered everywhere you look. Book covers are especially striking. In one of many used bookstore windows, I saw this copy of Amir Guttfreund’s last novel, Mount of Beatitudes, published after his death.
The Jewish people are often referred to as the “people of the book.” There is a book nook in Jerusalem that fills a former bus stop. The term “people of the book” actually originated in the Quran and describes not only Jews but also Christians, Zoroastrians, and other religious groups considered to have divine books. Once upon a time, this distinction offered these minorities some protection in Muslim-controlled lands.
Showing the resilience of all life in Israel is the fall flower stavneet, a member of the crocus family (not to be confused with karcoom, the saffron crocus). This grouping emerged from a rock crevasse in a city park near the Jerusalem Theatre.
An Old City view, taken from the roof of the Austrian Hospice, shows the many domed and tiled roofs layered one on top of another. I love the laundry, this enormous cypress, and the green minaret of one of the over 70 mosques in the Old City. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre can be seen in the distance at the top right of this photo. It’s worth a visit not just for the view but for the café which serves the best apfelstrudel!
A modern still life at Hadir, the restaurant/bar in Beit Hansen, a historic building in the Talbiya neighborhood of Jerusalem. It was built in 1887 as a leprosy hospital. Patients came from Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities. In 2011, the Jerusalem Development Authority commenced renovation of the property, focusing on the preservation and restoration of the historic building and its gardens. The Bezalel Academy of Art Graduate School and gallery spaces are housed there now. Besides Hadir, there’s an excellent café, the market of Ofaimme Farm, and a book mobile.
The Jerusalem Archaeological Park is located south of the Western Wall Plaza. It is a beautiful addition to the area around the Temple Mount in the Old City. The lead-sheeted dome of Al-Aqsa Mosque is seen in the top left corner of the photo. Outside the Old City walls to the east is the Mount of Olives; with an estimated 70,000 to 150,000 graves, it has been a Jewish burial site for over 3,000 years.
In an antique shop window, down the block from the King David Hotel, I spot this hamsa, incorporating intricate, raised enamel designs and cut-glass stones. It hangs in front of a matching Sephardic Torah case, used to enclose a copy of our holy book. The Hebrew letter ש is a symbol for the Eternal Flame. “Half price,” the shop owner says. Business is tough. This piece is surely worth tens of thousands of dollars.
On this evening, a stunning pair comes towards me at the First Station, an Ottoman-era railway station converted into an outdoor space housing a variety of restaurants, craft stalls, and a great health food store. The man literally radiates light from behind his aviators. He smiles. Most people are not smiling at strangers these days. I snap this photo as they pass. The patch on his backpack reads: מושיח (mosiach, messiah). In the New Year (which Jews celebrated in early October), may we all merit lasting peace. And may all hostages the world over be freed!