Pearl of the Quarter

I get to call Jerusalem home. I have called it home for as long as I have lived in Israel. My neighbourhood in Jerusalem is the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The Old City is sort of the Rick’s Café  Américain  in the film “Casablanca”. The film is based on a play, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s”. That shows up as a line in the film. So too,  everyone comes to the Old City.   

    It is customary for Jews to come to Jerusalem during the festivals of Pesach, Shavuot and Succot. They come on Independence Day, and they come on Yom Yerushalyim, Jerusalem Day. They also come on Chanukah, which has just been completed. Every evening, for eight days, tours come through the neighbourhood to see the menorahs that are lit in windows and doorways. 

   The last, 8th, day,  was this past Sunday evening, and the neighbourhood was packed. I was walking out of the Old City against the flow coming in. A few hours later, I was walking into the Old City against the flow going out. Lots of people. They were looking around, walking around, and just basically getting in my way. 

    That’s when I had the same thought I have had for years – thank G-d they’re coming. 

    There was a time when people did not come. Back in the heady days of The Oslo Accords, when buses and restaurants were blowing up every day, the streets of the Old City were empty for the holidays. Deserted. We as residents went out just so that there would be people. And everyone was miserable. It was so very depressing. Since that time, with all the noise, the crowds, the inconvenience, I maintain that it is good that people come. It is important that people come. They should come, and feel, and see, and learn, and eat. 

     My one request: they should  remember that people live here. Tour guides should be telling their flocks to be conscious of noise, and to stand off to the side of the street as they mill around a store front or listen to an explanation. Teachers should tell their students that singing at 2 o’clock in the morning as if it was 2 in the afternoon disturbs the residents. Not too much to ask, is it?

     This city is a truly special place and a particularly significant part of who we are as a people. The Hamas attack on Simchat Torah was for them an attack on Jerusalem. It is our centre, our pulse. As we move forward as a people toward what really makes this city significant (the House meant to be on the Mountain), it would not hurt the cause to be worthy as people.