Levi Jackson

• Crossing King George from the Prima Kings Hotel (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/rehavia-windmill.html) towards Independence Park (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/fantastic-animals.html and http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/two-horses.html) or Raban at the end of Saadia Gaon, which is the begining of Diskin ( http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/views.html) is like dancing Levi Jackson.(http://www.lloydshaw.org/Catalogue/CueSheets/Contra/LeviJacksonRag.htm).
• See also http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/not-jaywalking.html

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Comfort Relativity

• How uncomfortable they look in the heat of summer: the Jewish Haredi women wearing stockings, long skirts, long sleeves, tailored jackets, and the married ones with their hair covered; the Muslim women with hair and necks covered, long sleeves, robes to the ground, or slacks. How can they stand it?
• A girl passes in a low-cut tank top, her midriff bare to below her navel. If she noticed me, covered from collarbone to below the knees, she would think, "How can she stand it in this heat?"
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/daughter-of-salwar-kameez.html and http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/abundance.html and http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/lychees-figs-peaches.html and (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/lights-out.html

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Stone Houses

• The ordinance requiring stone on the outside of all Jerusalem buildings is (according to a Yad Ben Tzvi http://www.ybz.org.il/?CategoryID=5 guide) a negative regulation, forbidding stucco, plaster, and other materials on outside walls.
• Three-foot-thick stone walls formed earlier houses. More modern buildings are faced with limestone or (rarely) marble. The ordinance has been relaxed on occasion.
• In the 1930s the British allowed what look like stucco-faced buildings when Arab stonemasons refused to work on Jewish-owned property. In the 1950s, when there was a huge need for housing, the municipality also relaxed the rules.
• See also http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/beit-hakerem.html
  http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/love-and-darkness.html
  http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/katamonim.html
  http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/one-block-from-agripas.html http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/numbered-jerusalem-stones.html and http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/my-jerusalem-neighborhood.html

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Dropped H

• The H sound has pretty much disappeared from modern Hebrew, though it still appears in transliterations. Signs at number 19 bus stops list the destination as "HAR HATSOFIM" (Mt Scopus), but this is pronounced "ahr ahtsofeem."
• In the other direction the 19 goes to Ein Kerem Hadassah hospital pronounced "ahdassah."
• Thursday, the fifth day of the week, is called (after the fifth letter of the alphabet) yohm A.

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Cheesecake

• Put water on to boil in a small pot. Put a large pot over the first pot and in it melt one chocolate bar -- dark, milk or 70%). (I expect a double boiler would be fine, but I don't have one.)
• Add a small container (about a cup) of gvina lvana (white cheese -- similar to fromage blanc). Stir until color is uniform.
• Spoon into turkish-coffee cups.
• Chill.
• Possible additions are chopped mint (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/mint.html ) or crushed ripe figs (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/lychees-figs-peaches.html).
• For cheesecake, spread on a crushed-cookie crust or a thin round of sponge cake from a bakery before chilling.
• In the US, "Fromage Blanc" and "Quark" from Vermont Butter & Cheese Company are possible, but expensive, substitutes for gvina lvana. They are usually almost as fresh as white cheese is in Israel.
• This tastes and feels a lot richer than it is. A turkish-coffee or espresso cup holds a satisfying serving.

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Bakery

• At Yafo 119 a sign says "Bakery" (in Hebrew, with equal simplicity, "ma’afiya"). Its ovens produce fragrant, tasty Bukharian bread. When the shop is open, the glass case and counter form the wall along the sidewalk. Point at a small flat loaf, puffed up around the rim, snips of green onions on the crinkled surface.
• At any nearby dairy counter buy labaneh. Check that your water bottle is full, or buy fresh juice (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/juice.html ). Turn right at the first street back towards town and then right again to find a place to sit (or http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/stupid-question.html or http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/one-block-from-agripas.html ).
• Spread the labeneh on the warm bread. (It's always useful to carry a spoon.)
• Lunch to savor! http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/abundance.html

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Ice Cream

• The Italian Ice Cream man sets up his machine at fairs and festivals (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/art-and-pasta.html ). He opens the mechanism, takes a small cup from the freezer, affixes it inside and clicks the nozzle back in place. A press of the button produces true-tasting chocolate and vanilla soft serve. This sign offers melon, rum, and whiskey flavors, but I have not tasted these.
• On Tuesday he was in schoolyard on Emek Refaim along with seven sellers of costume jewelry; a potter; a maker of glass plates and pitchers; two used-book stalls; sellers of Indian silk skirts, blouses and tunics (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/daughter-of-salwar-kameez.html ); racks of cloth handbags and t-shirts; a table with limoncello, mulberry jam, and hand-cured olives; a fresh fruitshake stand and another selling South American derserts; more stalls; and a bandstand for a jazz combo.
• Outside the traffic was bumper to bumper along Emek Refaim (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/emek-refaim.html ), but moving. Cars stopped their crawl for pedestrians who stepped into any of the crosswalks ( http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/not-jaywalking.html ). And there were crowds of pedestrians. When the sun set, sidewalk tables filled at restaurant after restaurant, café after café. Bookstore,natural foods store, and ice cream and chocolate shop stay open till 11. The restaurants (which stay open later than I've been up) continue past Rahel Imenu, and the first block of that street continue the restaurants.
• The fair happens every summer Tuesday afternoon and evening. The strollers and restaurant crowds ebb and flow throughout the week and year.
• If you are staying at the King David, the Inbal (formerly the LaRomme), or anywhere in between, walk down the hill on King David St, past the Bell Park, and bear right on Emek Refaim. Three more short blocks gets you into the feel of things. David’s Citadel (walk up King David Street and continue down the hill); the Windmill (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/windmills_19.html now the Prima Royal); Dan Panorama (formerly Moriah); and other hotels, B&Bs, self-catering apartments, and zimmerim (http://www.bnb.co.il/ and flathunting.com) are all in easy walking distance of a true Jerusalem experience.
• The 4, 4 alef (on older digital displays, alef looks like H), 14 and 18 all run along Emek Refaim. Tell a taxi driver "Emek Refa'eem" or "Ha-Moshava" (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/taxis.html ).There are always empty taxis cruising on Emek Refaim to take you back.

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Signs of Housing History

• The pink limestone bank on the corner of Raoul Wallenberg Street and Yafo Road was built as a private residence. The royal-blue sign next to the gate recounts its history.
• In the Nahalaot neighborhood nearest Agrippas (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/one-block-from-agripas.html ), many historical signs display photographs of families who lived in the houses 80, 100, or more years ago. How very uncomfortably they all dressed!

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

August Sun

• In May, June, and July the sun is high above our building. Light floods the livingroom. A little after noon, rays reach the west-facing door to the large balcony, and I lower the shutter. Four hours later, the sun is far enough to the northwest, that we can sit on that balcony, drinking ice café.
• By late August, the noonday sun starts coming in through south windows. I draw the curtains on those shutterless windows and must keep the balcony shutter down until six. All windows are closed, all shutters down. To cool the rooms I squeegee clear water on stone-tile floors. (Each gram of water that turns to vapor takes 597 calories of heat from the air. See http://daphne.palomar.edu/jthorngren/latent.htm .)
• Though lower in the sky, the sun is fierce.
• By six, shadow pools on the balcony, the air cools, and the outside is once more welcome in. Air regains its sparkle. Light pops on along hillside streets and in the sky.
• To think cool in a dry climate see alslo http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/water.html and http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/water-on-jerusalem-day.html and http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/cistern.html and http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/water.html http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/fountains.html

Copyright 2007 Jane S. Fox

Cistern

• The underground cistern on the grounds of the former Hansen’s Disease hospital is as large as a ballroom and more than a century old. Volunteers repaired its grates and access ports. The rainwater it collects irrigate the extensive gardens, which can be toured in English or Hebrew alternate Wednesday afternoons (02 56 11 044 to volunteer, 02 62 56 357 for tour reservations).
• The hospital’s grounds are part of the endangered "Moon Forest," which stretches along the slope across from the Jerusalem theater to below Gan HaVeredim (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/rose-gardens.html) . The tall, spare trees on delight land coveted by developers.
• For more information about water storage in Jerusalem see http://www.plumbingworld.com/historyjerusalem.html (ancient) and http://www.bagelhole.org/?page=321 (ancient and modern).
• You can see the paving over now dry cisterns in all the 19th century neighborhoods. http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/pump.html and http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/one-block-from-agripas.html
• Collecting rainwater for irrigation sounds like a great idea until you think of mosquitoes. I don't think mosquitoes lay eggs in whitewash. (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/german-colony.html )

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Rose Gardens

• Three "Rose Gardens" appear on Jerusalem maps.
• The Wohl Rose Garden, Gan HaVeredim (http://www.jerusalemshots.com/Jerusalem_en78-4226.html), next to the Knesset, is a favorite for camp-out demonstrations. Demonstrators will be happy to tell you whether they want a larger budget for housing or for adding medicines covered by mandatory health insurance. -- or if they are deemonstrating to convince "the government to go home" -- which is the Israeli way of saying, "Throw the rascals out."
• Gan HaShoshanim in Talbiyeh, the second "rose" garden, is an expanse of lawns, trees, and playgrounds. The British set the site apart as a park. (In lands once held by the French, cities have boulevards; those once held by the British are graced by parks.) Now redesigned and landscaped, Gan HaShoshanim offers lovely views, shady benches in summer, sunny ones between winter rains, a water fountain, and well-maintained restrooms. For all this, I am told thanks go to the Bronfman family.
• The third is the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden (http://www.imj.org.il/eng/art/garden/index.html ).

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Rehavia Windmill

• The Greek Orthodox Church built the windmill on what is now Ramban (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/windmills_19.html) Street in the nineteenth century when the Patriarchate owned all the land where Rehavia was later built. They ran it as a charity. After World War I the Patriarchate was in such debt that they sold off large parts of their undeveloped real estate, and the windmill.
• By that time the windmill no longer ground grain. Sturdy and picturesque, it has so far survived being torn down to make room for apartments only foreigners can afford.

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Art and Pasta

• Each year, Jerusalem holds an Italian Festival, draped in Italian colors and bright with music, food, and good humor. They call it Art and Pasta.
• In the piazza next to the Italian Museum crowds sample the pasta of three Italian chefs or eat Mediterranean-but-not-Italian wraps from The Coffee Shop across Hillel Street. Commedia dell’Arte actors stroll and dance among baby strollers, children, young parents, grandparents, teenagers, tourists, locals, and everyone else.
• When night falls, slides of Italy illuminate the screen at the back of the small amphitheater in between concerts by a musician of strange instruments (funnels, saw, broom, balloon, and more). A boys’ group sings Italian lustily. A klezmer band performs on the balcony. Children make pasta crafts. (See also http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/unexpected-february-entertainment.html )
• Inside the small but excellent museum (http://www.jija.org/ENGLISH/JIJA/Museum/Museum.html ), along with permanent and changing exhibits, is the gorgeous Conegliano Synagogue (http://www.jija.org/ENGLISH/JIJA/Synago/synago.html ), transported from Italy in 1951. A sign on museum’s side reminds us that the Jews of Rome have their own version of the liturgy, developed in their community, which was hundreds of years old before Rome morphed from republic to empire. The synagogue has an active congregation and is sometimes also used for lectures., which is how I know that the pews are as uncomfortable as benches designed for human sitting can get.

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

ICCY

• About a quarter of the way along Emek Refaim http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/emek-refaim.html from Liberty Bell Park, a pentagonal sign points to the International Cultural Center for Youth. Classes from Yoga to Karate, for infants to pensioners, meet inside. Upstairs there is folk dancing on Tuesday evening, and a melodious minyan (http://www.geocities.com/shira_hadasha/) on Shabbat and holidays.
• On alternate Friday mornings in the summer, vendors set up tables under blue awnings in the large courtyard. Near the entrance, artists sell graceful handmade glassware. Farther along it’s t-shirts and colorful carry bags. I found deeply dyed silk skirts from India, flirty and knee-length or layered and full length, interspersed with gold-threaded mini wraps to wear over jeans (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/daughter-of-salwar-kameez.html ) or to delight a four-year old who likes to dress up as "a princess like Cinderella." Rose-patterned glass pitchers and plates from Turkey and Roumania (thick and thin) are ridiculously cheap. Lemon liqueur is deliciously smooth.

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

On the Walls

• If you have a head for heights, a walk on the City wall (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/even-licensed-guides.html ) provides excellent views of the City, the new city, and the hills beyond. Acrophobes beware.
• From the park above Gehenna we entered the City through a postern on the north side of the Citadel (which king did not build David's Tower?) and paused in an irregular plaza to examine the foundations. Then up fieldstone stairs to the top of the City wall. Here, on the west side of Sulieman’s (http://www.answers.com/topic/suleiman-the-magnificent ) fortification, the Jordanians (who held the City from the departure of the British in 1948 to 1967) added a wall on the City side. Beneath our feet the old stones were uneven, but the double wall assured security. Up steps, along the wall, down steps, up steps – and now nothing but open view to my left. Rational folks know a sturdy new railing protects them. Acrophobes are irrational.
• We passed "Mount Zion" (who isn't buried in "David's Tomb"?) (see also http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/jerusalem-cable-car.html ) and paused by a vacant field, not too far below us in the Armenian Quarter. Once again forward over uneven stones. Beyond the Zion gate, the ground dropped off again.
• The woman ahead of me turned into a narrow opening in a tower at the edge of the Armenian Quarter. I followed.
• The staircase twisted down into windwless black. Over the echo of her footsteps she called back, "Do you want to share a taxi (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/taxis.html )? Where do you want to go?"
• "To the ground."
• A scrape and squeak as she pushed the rusted turnstile. Now I could see it and the street where children played.
• On the drive from the Armenian Quarter to the Dung Gate, you get a great view of the City wall. High, high it flows around stony ground where wild flowers and thistles grow.

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Time Well Spent

• How long does it take to walk half a mile?
• About three hours if you have a good guide.
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/beit-hakerem.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/love-and-darkness.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/even-licensed-guides.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/katamonim.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/one-block-from-agripas.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/trompe-loeil.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/mural.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/jerusalem-street-poetry.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/stupid-questions.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/montefiores-windmill.html
• http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/jerusalem-cable-car.html

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Stupid Question

• In a tiny, quiet neighborhood between Yafo and Agrippas, between King George and Kiakh, we sat on the stone tiers of a small amphitheater while the guide told us the path of the walking tour. Then he explained when the buildings around us were built and pointed out architectural details.
• "And this amphitheater," I asked. ‘When was it built?'
• "About a year and a half ago."
• "What’s its purpose?"
• "It’s a place to sit while you hear what you’re going to see."
• Our group headed toward the Alliance school mural (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/mural.html ). Another group found shady places to sit.
• Are there really no stupid questions?

Coopyright 2006 Jane S. Fox

Learners

• Poking up from the top of some cars, larger than a taxi light though not so large as a Pizza ad, is a single Hebrew letter. The lamed looks a bit like a short capital L with a long tail. Indeed, the lamed developed into the L, but it is sheer chance that the words for "learner" in Hebrew and English start with the same sound.
• Lamed being the first letter of the Hebrew word for learn (lomaid), the sign indicates a student driver.
• I first saw L for learner in Britain. There I think a C for continental would also be good, to let everyone know the driver was used to being on the other side of the road.

Copoyright 2006 Jane S. Fox