The issue of anti-terrorist security is very acute in Israel, so it must be a call for the tenth time - do not bring a lot of things with you. At Israeli customs, your entire suitcase will be shaken from cosmetics to underwear. If necessary, cosmetic fluids will be analyzed here, not to mention handbags, bags, walls of backpacks and suitcases.
If you are not going to spend a few weeks in Jerusalem, then try to get by with the necessary minimum, in the end, to the center of the world, the paradise city must be sent, discarding at least some of the thoughts about the vain.
My group arrived in the city on Shabbat. At this time, Jerusalem seems to be turning into Woodstock. In a good sense of the word. People smile kindly, and it seems as if just a little bit more and come off the ground and soar. It's a little embarrassing that this seems weird. Speech is heard from all sides, probably in all the dialects of the world, and there is a feeling that the majority speak tolerably three languages.
When I visited here for the first time, it was a discovery for me that the temple of the Holy Sepulcher really exists. That he is real. When you see all these pictures on TV, or someone believing to the core of the bone tells you about it, you cannot make sure to the end, you cannot touch, pass through the prism of your own consciousness. But. he is real! Here, each denomination has a chapel, one might say - the Temple of Friendship of Peoples. There is some subtle reference to the church of St. Peter, but, despite this, they are completely different. There is no typically Catholic pathos.
If you can, then go to the services of various faiths. There is nothing more fascinating than watching them take turns trying to sound more solemn and louder than the neighbors. But all this without malice, but with the spirit of competitive excitement.
I was lucky, my group was not sightseeing, just a company of good friends, each of whom had his own dialogue with the city. I entered the temple for about an hour, and left at five, or maybe half past five. I don’t understand why people travel if they have time to see and evaluate everything in 15 minutes, touch history and make a couple of control frames.
The next day, we moved along the old part of Jerusalem, which is an archaeological site and an exhibition of ancient tombstones at the same time. Everywhere the tombstones are in orderly rows, there is no step to step on! A strong impression is made by one completely excavated crypt. It was located in a niche on the mother rock, one side turned to the path, and from the other three, it grew into stone.
It was from that light stone, from which everything was made in Jerusalem, only exuded by the wind, corroded by the rains and scorched by the sun, and then it became clear that everything was perishable. After all, he stood here for a thousand years and will stand still as much. And around it, wind streams will also curl, and small lizards flicker on cracked steps. It will be all the same dry and cool and so full that words cannot be picked up.
Crouching nearby I heard a melody. The sound was carried away by the wind, I could not understand what it was until I noticed a man sitting nearby and playing on a strange wooden wind instrument. The sound entered into a trance, becoming louder, then quieter, and there came an understanding that there is no death in these stones, but immortality is there - I can even touch it with my hands.
The next day, it became clear to almost everyone that we were badly spoiled by big cities. After all, if at a dark time of the day on the street you are approached by an unfamiliar man - it is better to quickly get away from problems. But here completely strangers often stop you to say a few words in Hebrew and go on, or in broken English to say: "do you know that such a person lived in this very house ...". Of course, you shouldn’t carelessly relate to your own safety, but it’s unnecessary to shy away from any shadow.
I also happened to visit the excavated quarry, from which they took stone for the construction of the city during the time of Solomon. There is rarely anyone here, they told me so. I went outside with wet clothes. There is a lot of dust from the local breed, it is all wet, but when you collect it in your hand, it dries immediately. Jerusalem is charged with a variety of things, the most interesting, you just need not to rush, not to follow the crowd, but to find something of your own in it!
To dilute the pathos, I can say that we were pleasantly pleased with free hookahs in bars and inexpensive local dishes, and in the old town there are signs over the entrance doors: "Family is such and such," "Rabbi is such and such."
It must be remembered that the city is 4000 years old. The walls here are unchanged since the time of Suleiman the Magnificent. Jerusalem wanted everything in it everyone lived, came here from all over the world.
For a long, long time it was an earthly paradise or a dream. On the one hand, all faiths and cultures were reconciled here, and on the other, the history of conquests and riots, wars and massacres still drowns these walls in blood.
