Tuesday 18 April

I obviously did not intend to turn off my radar while I was on vacation, but I did try to avoid locking on targets. In scanning the skies I came to recognize that there are three types of young women in Israel: the religious, the secular, and the American.

The religious woman is dressed modestly, with her blouse buttoned to the neck, a dark skirt with pleats at mid-calf (cocky length?), flat shoes, and her hair pulled back in a pony. She is not fat nor voluptuous nor petite; a complete lack of figure. She walks down the street with indifference to the men around her. Clearly not what I am looking for.

The secular woman takes pride in her role as a temptress. Her physique features a stacked rack and a butt that would put Jennifer Lopez to shame. To highlight these qualities, she wears clothing that is tight and skimpy. Pants or shorts hug her legs, while a halter top or spaghetti thingy tries to hold her breasts from bursting out. Bras are optional. Supersize leather boots boost her height a good four inches. Truthfully, Israeli secular women dress far more provocatively than American women do. The style is similar to what you might find on the continent, except that European women have more taste.

The American woman (also known as the Bais Yaakov seminary girl) is caught between the previous two camps. Look carefully and you will see to which side she leans. Her skirt either brushes her shoes or is semi-tight, or extends to the knee. She wears a lightweight, colorful top with elbow or wrist length sleeves that hug her arms. Frequently the top is also tight, but not form fitting. What tips the scale in one direction or another is her behavior. Often she will go out of her way to appear uninterested in guys, but in secret she is a sniper. It is an old game us yeshiva guys play with Bais Yaakov girls. Trust me, the guys have a much higher hit ratio.

As an aside, there is a fourth type of woman, although she did not register on my scopes - the religious pregnant woman. It seems like everyone is carrying a bun in the oven. The winter here must keep couples inside a great deal.

The night before Pesach is the traditional time for searching for chametz. After we did that we went to the Chilhuly glass exhibit in the citadel (King David’s tower). Trying to find a parking spot would have been impossible, so instead we took a taxi. Rather, we took two taxis after trying to fit six people into a C-class Mercedes and then arguing for a fair fare.

The city of David is a misnomer for what is really a palace structure erected by Herod. Standing inside I stared at a vision from another time. Towering walls overlook the rest of the city, and while the ramparts are too tall to see over, there are numerous slits for archers to send arrows raining down on the enemy below.

Modernity or antiquity - can the two exist together in harmony? Some of Chilhuly’s creations clearly came from the present and possibly the future, but others seemed to naturally grow out of the ancient stone. The two works most at home with their surroundings were a yellow chandelier and a bushel of glass balls strewn over the ground. The glass mountain and the blue and white tower rising to the heavens were the odd men out.

A visit to the Old City is incomplete with stopping at the kotel, at least to say some tehillim. The quickest (and most colorful) way from the citadel, which is located in the Armenian quarter, to the kotel is the through the Arab shuk (sp?). Most of the shops were closed at this late hour; not being a crowd man, the lack of hustle and bustle was quite welcome, although at times spooky. I was almost expecting someone armed with a curved dagger to jump out at me. Thankfully that did not happen.

The kotel is a site more associated with touch than any of the other senses. History flows from the stones to your fingers, a transmission that is both spiritual and electric. These are the very stones that King David laid down some three thousand years ago. I step forward and place my palm against the cool rock. Nostalgia? Some, but it is more akin to being before the gates of the King of Kings, knowing that nowhere on our planet are prayers more readily accepted. Instead of going through a switchboard, I had a direct link to Hashem.

Mordechai Cohen
7 May 2000

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