Shabbat and WEST WING!!!

This is going to be a good year. One of the roommates got the entire series of West Wing as an anniversary present. We will be watching it over the course of the year-or the next month.

Shabbat was lovely. Haven't yet made it to Israeli shuls or minyanim, but had lovely dinner in a classmates sukkah--and then a nice lunch at the CY sukkah. Haven't seen the Fuchsberg Center since it was under construction and it is beautiful.

After re-meeting some of my classmates, walked to the Old City and the Kotel. If I do it tomorrow, I might have to go every day, good thing that isn't the real defintion of hazakah! While I'm not sure that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has more kedushah than anywhere else in Jerusalem, it is clearly a moving and powerful place. As we were about to walk in, we were instructed to step aside, as there was a procession of priests, including what seemed to be the Patriarch, which one, I'm not sure, but he looked very impressive.

According to the Jewish Virtual library:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/church.html
"Since the Crusades, the precincts and fabric of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher have come into the possession of three major denominations: the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Orthodox and the (Latin) Roman Catholic. Other communities - the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Syrian Orthodox - also possess certain rights and small properties in or about the building. The rights and privileges of all of these communities are protected by the Status Quo of the Holy Places (1852), as guaranteed in Article LXII of the Treaty of Berlin (1878)."

A kind AJU classmate pointed out a later that has remained in place under a window since 1852, because of this treaty. While it seems farfetched, it is pretty cool, nonetheless. Did they have metal ladders in 1852?

What kind of world do we live in where a ladder has to remain in place for 156 years?

I greatly admire the fact that a truce has been called and prevents people from fighting, but would the truce be dissolved if the ladder would be removed? Would it be a slippery slope?

Funny, it seems that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is heading towards a similar solution. The governments seems to be trying to do the same. I suppose we'll find out if that's a good plan, although it seems to have somewhat worked for the church.

Of course, the church also has a leaking roof and backed-up sewage issues, since they cannot agree on who must pay for the repairs.

Who would pay for repairs of Israeli infrastructure if they do a status quo treaty?

Betzelem Elokim. If we all believe in Gd? Why can't we all believe in that?