Four Days, Many Jerusalems

Welcome back to mystical, magical Jerusalem.

Forget day trips! This time, we're here for four full days, baby!

Over four days, I wandered Jerusalem with my camera, focusing on street photography, from the Old City’s quarters to the crowded aisles of Mahane Yehuda.

We begin in the Old City. I returned to deliver photo prints to my new friend, Khamis, in the Muslim Quarter. Once that mission was complete, I was free to wander with my camera around the ancient walls and the bustling markets.

But first, a cat photo shoot:

Photographing strangers is one of the scariest, most vulnerable things to do as a photographer. Several months ago, I gave myself a new personal photography challenge: to be brave and photograph people.

Depending on the photographer, language barriers and being a tourist either enable one to be bold or to shy away from that challenge. I'm the latter. But the great thing about Israel is that people love to have their picture taken! Often, people ask for it! And sometimes, the camera becomes a bridge to friendship. :)

It's time to leave the Old City. Don't worry; we'll be back!

Into the "new" city we go!

And to the famous market, Mahane Yehuda!

Rumor has it that Friday mornings around Mahane Yehuda Market are particularly special. Rumor is actually reality!

Friday morning is packed and booming with people trying to square away their final shopping before Shabbat rolls in at sundown and everything closes. Buskers perform various genres of music in the streets. Soldiers and civilians rub elbows in the crowds while Haredi men beckon other men to wrap teffilin and Haredi women pass out Shabbat candles.

Of course, I love to focus on the people, but the real reason why people come to the shuk is obviously the food!

Can you smell these pictures? (But if you can taste them, I might be concerned...😜)

As the afternoon went on, the quiet bit into the crowds. The busy atmosphere faded away slowly. People finished their shopping and prepared for dinner.

The people-watching is prime in the markets. An old man danced with joy around the street artists. (I think he does this every Friday. He reminds me a lot of Orlando Maserati Man at Disney Springs.) A boy peed on the wall outside the restaurant where I was having lunch. I followed the sidewalk outside the market and watched the buskers as they concluded their performances. A random passerby on the street joined in singing beautiful melodies to the talented guitarist playing on the street, leading to meaningful conversations when they noticed my camera.

The Jewish day of rest is Saturday, but not the Christian one, so I went off to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

This church lies within the walls of the Old City and is the destination of many pilgrims, who wish to visit the site of Jesus' crucifixion and where he is said to have been laid to rest.

On the way into the church, a local shop-owner noticed my camera and struck up conversation. He gave me some location tips for good photos and invited me to walk around the stone homes beside the church, where the Ethiopian monks have lived for centuries. The pictures below were taken around these homes.

Beside the stone huts is the entrance to a small, quiet chapel, decorated with beautiful art.

Once you emerge through the chapel, you enter the ancient wooden doors of the big church and meet with the Stone of Unction, a stone slab where it is said Jesus' body was laid and prepared for burial.

It is here that I observed pilgrims rubbing cotton pads and scarves all over the stone slab. I asked one family what they were doing. They explained that they were absorbing the oils from the slab, which they will take home as holy gifts to family and friends. As an added bonus, they said, the oil smells nice. I smelled the cotton pads and can confirm.

Golgotha/Cavalry is this site where you will find pilgrims waiting in line or kneeling for prayer behind the stanchions.

Whatever you may believe, you cannot debate the mood you feel in this holy place -- the intensity of the people in prayer, the placid atmosphere in a building filled with sometimes hundreds of people at a time, the grandeur of the building and all its chambers.

Occasionally, a holy man would come with an oil lamp and walk around the church, particularly over the stone slab (Stone of Unction).

Hearing my own footsteps echoing in this massive building filled with people, I understood the reverence that people have for it. Silence is a great sign of respect.

In the spirit of being brave and curious and photographing strangers, I found that my gateway was photographing scenes and objects. I noticed people holding elaborate crosses close to their chests, and I asked for permission to photograph the crosses. Since people sometimes love to have their photo taken, before I knew it, the first member of the family was pointing out other members and their crosses. At that point, I felt a little bolder and went for portraits. They aren't my proudest portrait photos by any means, but they were an icebreaker into a territory I've found personally challenging. And taking bad photos always motivates me to get better shots next time!

Another stroll through the Old City, from the Christian Quarter to the Jewish Quarter.

Another place where you can feel the power and reverence in a holy place is at the Western Wall.

Please allow the kittens to guide you out of the Old City...

And into another neighborhood in Jerusalem, outside of Mahane Yehuda Market.

As Shabbat ended, I met up with an old friend, Moshe, one of the IDF soldiers who had joined our Birthright trip back in December 2007. (Dang, that's a long time ago.) After all these 18 years, we finally met and caught up on the huge gap of life stories we'd missed out on. He's lived in Jerusalem for a long time and knows all the ins and outs of the city, so I was lucky to get a personal guided tour from him through the ultra-orthodox enclaves in the area.

The history and economics of these neighborhoods are complex. You can tell from the state of the homes, which are secluded behind walls within the modern, nicer-looking communities surrounding them. Signage in these enclaves requests guests to respect the local etiquette by wearing modest clothing and not disturbing the residents.

Jerusalem has a million complexities, and it wasn't until I stayed for several days and walked all around that I began to understand how difficult and complicated a place it is. A single road divides the ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhood from the predominately Muslim part of the city in East Jerusalem. You begin to understand how similar yet how different the various religions really are. You find streets of coexistence, and streets that make me, a secular Jew, realize the strength of the differences between various sects of Jews. It reminds me of what my parents explained to me, a Conservative American Jew, back in my childhood -- that many Orthodox and ultra-orthodox don't even view us as Jews -- "Jewish goyim." Meanwhile, outside the Haredi neighborhoods, I find myself in a mix of fashion types, levels of modesty, languages (so many Americans!), and religions. In the space between, you find hope and tension. Tel Aviv suddenly feels like a bubble.

These are many of the reasons why I find Jerusalem so fascinating and why I am continuously drawn to it.