Today's siyur was an evening one. We went to Nachlaot, a neighborhood in the center of town that was one of the first neighborhood built outside of the walls of the Old City. It's well known for its quiet, within a hustle bustle mentality of a city. And it's famous during Hanukkah time for the lights in the windows.
I guess because I was gone for half of Hanukkah, I didn't really get a chance to walk around and see the menorahs in the windows around Jerusalem. Tonight was really my only opportunity, and the lights were beautiful. It just made me think - how unnecessary it was to put menorahs in the window. We know you're Jewish! OK so not quite to that extreme because not all homes here belong to Jewish families. But growing up, and at home, one of the reasons why I always felt it was important to display the menorah in the window at home was as a symbol saying, "Yup, we're Jews. And we're so proud of that so we're gonna show you!" So I certainly enjoyed the tour with Liyan, our guide (who we've had a few times) and seeing a lot of other tour groups there - at least we were where the party was at! I enjoyed the lights as well - they were beautiful and glowing. But it just made me think. Nothing new while being here.
We ended the tour on a rooftop apartment of a friend of Liyan's, which was really nice to see the entire city at night. When we all left, some people stayed behind to get Koobeh or go to a bar. Others went straight home. Yonit and I finished off the evening at Cafe Cafe on a small street off of Bezalel street. I ordered a pumpkin soup which came with grainy bread - served warm - yum! We had a really nice time chatting, just the two of us. Quiet, not rushed, enjoyable.
Happy Hanukkah!
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