Wednesday, July 8th Jerusalem to San Rafael

The remainder of our last day in Jerusalem went well; the girls finished Camp Ramah; Marci finished the Wexner week with a siyum at Beit Shmuel. We packed and packed, heading to the buses about 9 pm for the just after midnight Air Canada flight to SFO via Toronto. The first leg of the light was nearly 12 hours and, thankfully, we all slept for most of it. US Customs set up in Toronto so we cleared all that before getting to SFO. Yeah.
It's GREAT to return home after a long trip. One of the 15 phone messages was from Northwest Airlines, inquiring about why Queen Latifah and Angelina Jolie purchased tickets, on our account, to travel from Amsterdam to Ghana. At first we thought it was a joke call until I went online to pay the American Express bill and found $9,500 in charges; 4 tickets to Ghana plus charges to buy miles on Delta's plan (I think they wanted to upgrade to business class!). Not to make any sort of libel-inducing statement, neither the Queen nor Angelina ACTUALLY made the reservation; just the ploy of whomever got ahold of our credit card number to evade arrest. Good thing; the tix weren't until next week so....someone....will discover some bad news when they come to check in on the flight...
We ALL slept through the first night at home.
Until our next adventure...

Tuesday, July 7th

Quick post at 10 am.

I neatly packed all the suitcases late last night. This morning, getting the girls ready for their last day of camp....bathing suit crisis. Resolution: UNPACK... Oy. The room looks like a tornado. Time to repack.

But first,

On the way back from dropping off the girls, I stopped at the Super Pharm. The guard at the door looked at me, dressed in blue shorts, a short-sleeve light blue colored shirt, sunglasses, and a real dorky white ARZA TOURS baseball cap.

He stopped me from entering and said, "Dagan?" I replied in Hebrew, Mah? (what?). He said, "Dagan?" The only word I know in Hebrew close to Dagan is Dagana, the first kibbutz located in the Galilee. I didn't think he was asking me if I was from Kibbutz Dagana.

So, I told him "Ani lo Meveen" (I don't understand). He replied,

Da gan? Da gan? Boom. Boom?

At that moment, I realized the appropriate translation: "The gun. The gun. Boom. Boom."

I smiled, assuring him "No gun. No boom boom."

He smiled and let me in the door.

Gotta love Israel.

Off to pack... (again)...

Monday, July 6 Jerusalem

Our last full day in Jerusalem, and it was quite unexpected, as we are used to...

We woke up early and got the girls ready for Camp Ramah. I took them by taxi (meter, 31 shekels (lots of slow traffic) and walked across the street to take the #22 bus back to the center of town, to the hotel, and then to some time to write.

....and then Marci called... She's on an immersion in Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox, Torah True Judaism, take your pick) life led by Rabbi Menashe (once known as Mark) Bleiwess; whom I knew as an undergrad at Cal (Go Bears!). Marci got me special permission to join them for part of their tour of Mea She'arim, the most tradition-bound community in Jerusalem, with Menashe offering support since he also wanted a chance to reconnect after the 15 years or so its been since we've seen each other.

Presto chango. Got back to the hotel; absented the T-shirts and shorts; and faster than Mr. Rogers changes his sweater, I was long slacks, long sleeve colored shirt, kippah, and off to walk to Mea Shearim.

We were to meet at the Mir Yeshiva, otherwise known as "The Mir." Organized in 1815 in Poland, it is now, in Jerusalem, the largest yeshiva in the world with 6,000 students. Waiting outside The Mir for Marci and the Wexner group, I was usually ignored by the men walking in and out. Occasionally, some would slow down, look me over (not mistaking me for Haredi). One was kind enough to ask if I was lost...

When the Wexner group came (women together in the front; men together behind them), we were able to tour the Mir with the Rosh Yeshivah (Principal, Head of School, Superintendent, whatever). It was very high status and probably the only way about 20 western dressed men could wander through the yeshiva. The Rosh Yeshivah brought us to a huge room, PACKED with men, sitting in long rows, with lots and lots of noise as they all studied together the Talmud. They were packed in so tight it was claustrophobic. We walked through a door, into ANOTHER huge room, also PACKED with men studying. Then, up a floor, then down two floors, then onto what once was the women's balcony at their synagogue. EACH place was wall to wall Talmud study. We left the building and the Rosh Yeshivah took us to ANOTHER building. (Turns out the Yeshiva owns half a dozen buildings in the community.) This one was just as packed, in every room, and seeming crawl space. Or, as one of the guys in the Wexner group said as we got on the elevator, "What, no one studying in here?"

On a serious note, it was one heck of a fire hazard. On a more vivid one, it was described as "a factory" by one person in the group and "a sweatshop" by another. The women were able to look through one window into one room to see the place.

I did get a very brief chat with Menashe and had to leave to get the girls at camp. Apparently, and Marci will have to blog about this, he did reference our time together at Berkeley (Go Bears!) as part of his personal journey to Haredi Judaism.

I hopped in a taxi in Mea Shearim (35 shekels, off the meter, which was a GREAT price for the distance) and went to San Simon to get the girls.

We lunched at a little mini-mall around the corner from the Goldstein Youth Village, did some shopping in the local market, and then headed back for our favorite #22 bus back to the city center.

The Jerusalem Time Machine is a movie and simulator experience in Jerusalem and if you have the time to do it, I DON'T recommend it. Its really bad. So, they created a new version (shown only twice a day) on all of Israel. We saw it this afternoon. It was better than the Jerusalem Time Machine AND we still DON'T recommend you go!

Marci's cousin Donna and her parents drove in from Tel Aviv so the girls and I went for dinner with them at YMCA. Marci was at Wexner and joined us much later back at the hotel.

It's almost midnight and we're packing!

Lailah tov.

Sunday, July 5 Jerusalem

It was 10 am, the curtains drawn in the room, and the girls were still sound asleep. A quick call downstairs to learn that breakfast goes until 10:30 am. Open the drapes, time to wake up! "But you said we could sleep until we woke up." "But, I didn't think that would be 10 am"

Good call to call off Camp for the day.

After breakfast, the three of us headed to the HUC library (part of the deal of not going to camp!). Paul Lipz had given me a number of leads on books detailing American olim in the 1960s and 1970s. Within just a few minutes, I had more than a dozen titles. With the girls at their own study carrels studying (or playing video games or watching episodes of the first season of I Love Lucy on the video player), I reviewed the books; took some citations to buy the books in release, and bought up a 100 copy card to make copies of the literature that I knew I couldn't get elsewhere. In a great detective story, I

-put the word out to friends to introduce me to people who immigrated to Israel in the 1960s and 1970s

-got the contact info for Paul from Heather Erez (and I also met Paul when we taught this year at Rodef Sholom)

-met with Paul to get the citations for the HUC library

-went to the HUC library (which was not on my original study plan) to find many many more good titles

-found an autobiography published by a guy who lives in Judea (West Bank) but couldn't find a copy on the internet to purchase

-googled the guy to find his website and email

-got an email reply within hours

-called him on his cel to learn that, while I don't have time to meet him, he was JUST interviewed by a Ph.D. candidate at U. of Chicago writing a dissertation on American olim in Israel.

-he gave me her cel phone here in Jerusalem.

-I called her and we chatted about her research.

-Had Gadya. Had Gadya.

In fact, now that I've discovered two Ph.D. dissertations in progress, I will have more than enough material for one section of one chapter in my book.

From HUC, we took a walk to the Dan Panorama Hotel, where we stayed the first week, to see if they had the beloved blanket of our friend Sophie. While I did get several blankets that were left in rooms, we don't think we have Sophie's. Sorry Sophie.

Having experimented, and failed, with the strategy , "let's just walk and find a place to eat lunch," we opted instead, at 2 pm, to go to Olive and Fish, a local restaurant near our old hotel where we have eaten many times. Good choice!

We made our way back to the David Citadel and got ready for our excursion to Tel Aviv, all on public transport.

We walked up King David St. to get the #18 bus which took us across town to the rarely-used Jerusalem train station. From there, we took the excruciating long train trip to Jerusalem which was just fabulous. The train still follows the path created during the mandate period, weaving through the mountains, before arriving in Tel Aviv 90 minutes later. We also love the train and its FAR less crowded and hassled than the buses.

Our cousin Mira met us at the Tel Aviv train station and we went together to D'lal restaurant in Neve Tzedek. We met Marci there, enjoyed a great dinner, and hopped on the Wexner shuttle bus at 10 pm to get back to Jerusalem.

Lailah tov.

Saturday July 4th, Jerusalem

Shabbat shalom.

We took advantage of the day of rest to SLEEP in this morning. Marci and the girls headed to the pool (incredible; overlooking the walls of the Old City) while I was treated to a massage in the hotel spa...sort of.

Turns out, there are 2, count them one-two spas, in the same hotel. The special card offering a free 30 min. massage with any 1 hr. massage purchase was given to Marci, even though she was not aware that her reservation (er my reservation) was for the OTHER spa, in another part of the hotel. So... I spent 20 minutes shuttling back and forth, LEARNING that there were two spas, being told by each that my reservation was at the other, before I met Olga (name changed to protect the innocent). I was not in the best of moods at the beginning....and only matured to understand what a "cultural experience" this was. Let's just say that, midway through the experience (otherwise labeled "massage"), I had thoughts of the Kremlin, the Cold War, and what it must have been like to have been a high level Communist. It's just that when she pulled each arm, back, around, and pressed UP, I didn't really see (or feel) the MASSAGE part of that. Then, the instruction "BREATH OUT" (hard to understand until she repeated it for a third time), and a rather forceful blow to the lower spine (followed by similar blows to mid and upper spine). Back at home, great care is taken to preserve modesty. Enough said!

After the beating, massage, I headed up to the pool committed to get Marci a massage at the OTHER spa and plead with her to give ME the free 30 minute treatment. After some humorous descriptions of my experience, she thought it was a GREAT idea.

I spent hours with the girls at poolside. Marci had to leave for a Wexner text study. The girls and I continued studying water patterns in close proximity to the Temple Mount. They were selling watermelon poolside. What I didn't know is that they give you a 1/4 of a huge watermelon. The girls CONSUMED it in minutes. Time for lunch (at 3 pm!)

We went to the Yimka, better known as the YMCA, for lunch. It's a short walk up the hill from the hotel and they're open on shabbat (not many restaurants in Jerusalem are; except of course ALMOST every sushi restaurant!).

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for a little more rest.

Saturday night was a free night for Wexner so Marci arranged dinner with Mara and David Langer. On Mara's recommendation, we actually found a Georgian restaurant. Couldn't find ANY southern cooking but, strangely, a whole lot of Russian speakers. David selected some typical Georgian dishes, so typical, in fact, that the server couldn't describe or define them in either English or Hebrew. Once again, she pulled out the Russian but we were....speechless. I'm just going on faith that David's description of the dessert; olives with cherry sauce, was right.

We made this our anniversary dinner and the Langers took the bill. (And we didn't make it our anniversary dinner SO THAT the Langers would take the bill.) Thanks, David and Mara.

After dinner, Marci invited all the SF Wexner folk to Rabbi Lezak (and now ours) favorite coffee house Tmol Shimshon (or something like that). She called it for 10 pm;

Rabbi sighting: Rabbi Elka Abrahamson on Ben Yehuda st. But since she's a director of Wexner and it was her night off, we didn't talk!

At 10 pm, with a table for about a dozen people, it was the 4 Dollingers... What about calling a party and no one comes... About 10:15, Marty and Vanessa Friedman came and by 10:45 we had about 20. We were really bad parents....at 11 pm, we were all still there chatting, Shayna was asleep on her forehead at the table, and we decided that it was so late, the kids were so tired, it was so exhausting...

So we took them to Babette's for some midnight chocolate waffles. Oy!

Rabbi Sighting: Rabbi Chaim Seidler Feller, once again, walking out of the King David Hotel, invited Marc to the Hartman Institute to study but, alas, daddy duty takes precedence.

By the time we got back to the hotel, we decided NO camp in the morning. They get to sleep until they wake up.

Lailah tov...or boker tov..

July 4th- Marci 's blog

Hi all,

It's Shabbat and I finally have a chance to update and send you all a message about my adventures here in Israel. It has been a busy, introspective and personal time for me here in Israel this week on the Wexner program. I am learning a lot and meeting some really interesting people. At the same time, I miss being with my family and experiencing israel with them. We see each other periodically during the day but it's strange having a separate experience from them. But I do feel blessed to have my family here with me and greeting me with big hugs and kisses when we meet. The program began Tues. evening with a magnificent cocktail reception on the balcony of the David Citadel, overlooking the Old City. Many of my classmates and their spouses had just flown in that day so I felt very lucky to have been able to jump into the program, full on, in Israel time. The David Citadel is gorgeous, very upscale. (This is not the way the Dollingers are used to traveling, but hey, when someone else is footing the bill, we'll take it!) We have a larger room, with an alcove for the girls. It's large, on Israeli standards. After the reception, we had an amazing buffet dinner. (All meals are covered and very fancy.) I can say that I am finally getting tired of eating here in Israel. I never thought that day would come. but I look forward to my bowl of cereal for breakfast when I get home! The next day we had an opening plenary about maps and creating our own personal maps of our time here. We then embarked on a round robin Navigation of Israel. We first went to the security barriers around Jerusalem (in Ramallah and near Bethlehem) to learn first hand about the geopolitics of the area. Because of security reasons, we were briefed on the bus, and not allowed off. By the way, we have a security guard with all of the groups at all times. This is a very well orchestrated trip. We had a family style meal at a great restaurant in Talpiot and then went to the Van Leer Institute for a lecture on the demography of Israel by a very prominent researcher. Can't recall his name right now. From there, we went to the City of David to explore and talk about the archaeology of the city. One of my Wexner colleagues is Tony Smorgan, the son in law of Mem Bernstein. Mem has a beautiful home in Yemin Moshe and had all of us San Franciscans over for an incredible meal. She included many of her local friends as well. Her home is filled with beautiful art and it was such a lovely evening. We celebrated Jen and Tony's 6th wedding anniversary. I walked back by way of Mamilla, an incredible upscale mall that has opened adjacent to our hotel. Not having my family to contend with, I spent the evening browsing the shops, and not buying a thing. Came back to a quiet and restful night without my family. I missed them! The next day was our Yom Gibush. I was selected as a facilitator for this program and had a group of 7 Americans and 3 Israelis to spend the day with. We were sent to Yad Vashem for lunch and conversation and then to the neighborhood of Ein Kerem for coffee. It was a very interesting day. We were also given a camera to record the day. Remember the name Gidi Grinstein. Apparently, they have him pegged for the next prime minister. He was one of the Israeli's Wexners in our group and a brilliant speaker. He is an advisor to many in the Israeli government right now. We had a dinner with them as well and then an Israeli performer sang and got us all up and dancing after the meal. It was big fun and a great evening. Shayna and I went out for a late night walk on Ben Yehuda. Of course we stopped for waffles and card shopping for Marc for our anniversary. We are headed out now for dinner so I'll finish updating later....

Friday, July 3 The Anniversary

Today is Marci and my 15th anniversary. She had Wexner all morning. I took the girls to Camp Ramah, dropped them off about 8:10 am (taxi; no meter; 30 shekels), and then decided to venture the public bus back into town. After about 30 minutes wait, I took the #22 bus to King George and did some window shopping and walking back to the Hotel.

At 10 am, I met with Paul Lipz at the YMCA for another academic interview. Paul was the scholar in residence this past year at Rodef, was a professor for our rabbis at HUC, and immigrated from what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe for the geographically challenged) exactly ONE DAY before the Six Day War started. While he was not an American immigrant himself, his experience as one of that generation gave me great insights as well as a great internationalist and comparative perspective to better understand the meaning of American immigration. He's also a professor and is up on all the scholarship in this field. He started reading off books and articles and I wrote like crazy. I'll spend much of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at the HUC library locating and reading these selections. Thanks, Paul.

Marci came to join us after Wexner finished and we headed out to get the girls at Camp Ramah at little early. Our friends from the Rodef Trip, Nate, Judy, and Rachel Zilberg, had planned on planting a tree in Israel in memory of Rachel's twin sister who died at age 1 day. Since Rachel celebrated her Bat Mitzvah on the trip, the Zilbergs wanted to do something to remember Arielle, her twin. After a few calls to the JNF, we learned that we could plant our own trees at Yad Kennedy, the memorial to JFK. Trees cost $10/each ($5 for kids). The Zilbergs bought one; we bought one for the girls; another for our parents; and a third for our congregation (Thanks to tzedakah money from the Jaffe family). What a great and meaningful afternoon. We called the Zilbergs at 2:30 am CA time so that they could hear it. They had written up a whole ceremony which they emailed to us the night before. With video camera running, and the cel phone on "speaker," we had a tree planting ceremony and then planted the tree. Nate had sent an image of Arielle's Hebrew name which I printed and then mixed the paper into the soil so her name would literally become part of the tree; and part of new life.

It took much longer than we thought and it was already 2:30 pm before we got back to Jerusalem for lunch. Rebecca and I, especially, were in BAD food ways; especially when we had trouble finding a felafel stand in Jerusalem for some QUICK nourishment. Ah, the joys of travel.

After a few hours relaxing in the room, Marci headed off to the Kotel (western wall) for a kabbalat shabbat Wexner gathering. The girls and I headed to a non-kosher restaurant (and therefore open on erev shabbat) for our anniversary, shabbat, family, not so family dinner. Besides, after a very late lunch and a very high blood sugar number (190 after 4 hours of fasting), I opted for a small light salad. When a BOWL THE SIZE OF TEXAS arrived, filled with all sorts of things, I just declared this the un-anniversary, un-shabbat, un-family dinner, had a few bites and we were out of there is fewer than 30 minutes.

Lailah tov (Good Night)