Boldly Go Solo

A few hours in Jerusalem's Old City

I've been home from Israel for several weeks now and still haven't figured out what to write about it. Facts and figures about history and religion rained down on me during my 10-day visit. I was awed by sights that millions have visited before me.

The religious and political aspects of life in Israel, and between Israel and other countries, have been written about time and again.  

So where do I take a story? Or a blog post? No point in me recounting the complicated history I learned (and maybe should have already known). That can be found in books.

Books retelling stories from the Israelites to the Babylonians to the Persians to the Greeks during the Hellenistic period to the Romans, the Byzantines, the early Muslims, the Crusaders, the Mamluks, the Ottomans, the British...

Israel for first-timers

Boker Tov, (good morning)

No time, no time.

I've been in Israel for almost four days, seeing and learning a zillion things, so there's no time to post here. I've been to the Western (Wailing) wall and to the Temple Mount. To old Jerusalem and, as of last night, "new" Tel Aviv.

Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust musesum, was a profound experience but too short a visit. There was one day in Jerusalem that I heard the Muslim call to prayer, followed by church bells. Here, in this Jewish nation. I'm finally, viscerally, understanding the intense mix of religions and why tensions can so easily arise.

Soon, I'm off to ancient Jaffa.

I'll tweet when I can. Post photos when I can. But if not, write in more detail when I return.

Meanwhile, check in every so often for the tweets on the top left of the blog. I'll shoot some 140-character thoughts if there's time and an Internet connection.

Shalom