‘Georgeopolis’ by Dor Guez at the Petakh-Tikvah Museum of Art

Posted on February 14, 2010 by admin

It was the first time today that I visited the Petakh-Tikvah Museum of Art. Established in 1964 in a beautiful park once at the margin, today in the center of the city, the museum has undergone renovation and reopened five years ago, with a focus on collective exhibitions and art with a political message. It is t the last category that the exhibition ‘Georgeopolis’ by the young photographer and video artist Dor Guez belongs.

the Petakh-Tikvah Museum of Art

Georgeopolis is the byzantine name of the city of Lod, a place that most people know because of the main international airport of Israel located in its proximity. Yet, it is one of the oldest cities in ancient Israel, mentioned in the Bible as one of the places where Jews returning from the Babylonian exile came from.  It also was one of the centers of the Jewish resistance during the Roman-Jewish wars and the Maccabees revolt.The byzantine name of the city comes from Saint George who was killed here in 303 for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. The city maintained a Christian presence since these times, and the troubled identity of its Christian inhabitants of today is the theme of the exhibition.

Jacob Monayer's Wedding - 1948

This is the story of three generations of the Monayers, a Greek-Orthodox family in today’s Lod. The Greek Orthodox are a minority among the Christians in Israel, who are minority among the Arabs, who are a minority in the Jewish State. A minority amongst a minority amongst a minority.

the ruins of Lydda

The entry hall exposes the wedding photos of Jacob Monayer in 1948 – the year of the independence of the state of Israel, the year when the Arabic Lydda was occupied by the Jewish Israeli forces and the majority of its Arab population fled and became refugees. Only about 700 people stayed, and the Monayers were among them.

St. George's Church in Lod

The principal hall of the exhibition is covered on its walls with photos of the very few remains of the Arabic city of Lydda. The ruins are in decay and most of them have been swallowed or covered by the new and expansive city that was built here in the last 60 years. I have lived in Lod for the first two years after coming to Israel as a new immigrant and I never knew about them. Neither did I know that the St. George church in the city (co-habitating with the mosque – this is how the Ottoman rulers accepted to allow the church to be rebuilt in the 19th century on a previous 15th century structure) contains the sarcophagus of St. George. A video projected in the same hall pf the exhibition shows the service in the church. The religious ceremonies are performed in Greek, a language that the Arab Christians of Lod do not speak. A translator stands near the priests and translates during the service.

Jacob Monayer - July 13

Four video installations complete the exhibition. In the first Jacob Monayer describes the events that happened at July 13, 1948 – two days after the Israeli army entered Lod. Most of the Arab inhabitants of the city fled to Ramallah in the heat of the summer, some perished, the rest became refugees. Those who staid where not allowed to keep their houses and lived in a ghetto for the next five years, under military rule. This is where the marriage we had seen the pictures in the first hall happened.

the second generation

If Jacob made his testimony in good Hebrew. His four sons speak perfect Hebrew. They all went to Jewish schools because they were better by the time they grew up in the 60s. Their identity is problematic. While they have received the same education as theur Jewish colleagues they are not fully accepted in a society that has much to do in order to reach real equality. They are a minority wherever they go – among Jews or among Arabs. Yet, the political situation makes them feel more and more on the Palestinian than on the Israeli side. For their children they have chosen to send them to Arabic schools, so that their identites are less in question.

'Dear Jennifer'

The last two videos describe the humiliating experiences related to their Arab identity that undergo two of the young women in the third generation. They look and dress like any Israeli girl, they speak perfect Hebrew as well, and they try to live their lives inside the Israeli society. Yet, when Jennifer’s tutor at the university discovers that the gifted and fair-haired student with a Western name is an Arab she feels not only surprised, but also somehow betrayed. The video shows Jennifer reading the letter received from the tutor.

I found on youTube a fragment of the last vide titled ‘Sa(mira)’. Samira is also a student in Jerusalem, and works as a waitress as many other students do at her age. One day the manager of the restaurant asks her to change the name on the tab to something tha sounds more ‘Jewish’. The reasons – some customers complained not about the service but of the fact that they were served by an Arab.

Dor Guez succeeds to bring the members of the family to open themselves in front of the camera. They never look angry, they never look hateful, although their stories are not easy. They seem more to be asking questions about themselves and about the society they live in. Our society. Their uncertain identity as a small piece in the complex puzzle of the Israeli and Palestinian reality is a subject of reflection for whoever visits the exhibition.

The exhibition is open until February 27. It is announced that in the closure day there will be a meeting with the artist.

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Vanessa Rubin in Tel Aviv

Posted on February 13, 2010 by admin

The third concert in the ‘Hot Jazz’ series at the Tel Aviv Art Museum had as guest the American singer Vanessa Rubin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaW2alvEZcE

Born in Cleveland, Vanessa Rubin moved in 1982 in New York and started a singing career, in parallel with a teaching and jazz evangelist path. She sang with Lionel Hampton, the Mercer Ellington Orchestra, Herbie Hancock, the Woody Herman Orchestra, and the Jazz Crusaders. Her teaching and coaching activities include music consultancy and student classes at such institutions as the Thelonious Monk Institute, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center. Her repertoire includes many standards from the great female vocal American songbook, and works of composers such as Duke Ellington, Gershwin, and Dizzy Gillespie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElTBS_t0cpw

The show in Tel Aviv tonight was unfortunately partly spoiled by very bad sound engineering, one of the worst if not the worst in my memory in the many years since I watch this series of jazz concerts. The acoustic bass of Assaf Hachimi was almost permanently too loud, covering the rest of the players, and especially the the clarinet of Ilan Salem. For the clarinet to take the place of the saxophone in a jazz band, it needs not only instrumental talent and personality which Salem may have, but also clarity of sound and musical space, which was missing tonight completely. Young and gifted pianist Nitai Hershkowitz was the instrumental surprise of the evening. Shai Zalman did his usual gigs. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLfOolonDWc

Vanessa Rubin tried her best in the given conditions, she slalomed valiantly through the technical difficulties in the first part, and succeeded to catch the attention and affection of the audience, with a series of standards which made good service to her vocal and emotional capabilities. After the break she seemed to be tired, tried to reconnect with the audience by telling some stories, but abandoned and cut short the performance after only another four or five songs. The few recordings that I found on youTube show that we missed the opportunity to know better a great singer, whose performance could have been memorable on a better night.

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Omar Sosa la New Morning

Posted on February 11, 2010 by admin

Postul de televizune francez Mezzo a transmis in cadrul seriei de concerte inregistrate la New Morning recitalul integistrat in 2004 cu pianistul de origine cubana Omar Sosa.Nascut in 1965 Sosa a copilarit si s-a format ca muzician in Cuba, absorbind ritmurile muzicii cubane, dar si facand cunostiinta inca din tinerete cu clasicii jazzului intre care Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Harret, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, dar dintre toti Thelonius Monk a avut poate influenta determinanta. In 1993 se muta la Quito, in Ecuador, apoi in Statele Unite la San Francisco. Aici, odata cu imprimarea primelor discuri in Statele Unite are ocazia sa cunoasca de aproape creatori si sunete diverse din muzica lumii. Dupa ce primele sale succese si premii Grammy il pozitioneaza ca unul dintre primii interpreti de Latin jazz interesele si gama sa interpretativa se extind spre muzica nord-africana si un stil de fuziune care imbina jazzul clasic, sunetele din Caraibe si muzica cu intonatii oriental-mediteraneene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQzma07LZFk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_EsYOeT1g0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axI7haYvEBI&feature=related

Concertul din 2004, inregistrat cativa ani dupa ce Sosa trece oceanul si se stabileste la Barcelona  il intalneste pe pianist cu muzician tunisianul Dhafer Youssef .  Youssef este un muzician extrem de versatil, care poate canta aproape la orice instrument. La New Morning el ii da replica lui Sousa cu parti vocale extrem de originale si secvente de oud – instrument traditional arab care sub mainile sale devine o componenta capabila de tot ceea ce un instrumente de jazz poate sa ofere. Programul imbina stilurile nord-african si cubanez si le extinde spre free jazz si world music, intr-o combinatie care este spectaculoasa in multe momente fara a face rabat calitatii.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcgIbcZ59P8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0A8fQ2HQwU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNE7mWbWKFc&feature=related

Sper ca va va placea ca si mie concertul, pe care l-am gasit pe youTube. Dintre cei care mai apar in formula de la New Morning urmariti-i si pe excelentul saxofonist Louis Depestre si pe basistul Childo Tomas.

Web site-urile celor doi artisti.

http://www.omarsosa.com/

http://www.dhaferyoussef.com/

Despre clubul New Morning din Paris poate voi povesti odata. Este o experienta de neuitat pentru orice iubitor de muzica.

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New Seasons for ‘Lost’ and ’24’

Posted on February 11, 2010 by admin

My two preferred TV series (and actually the only ones that I am following) are back on screens with their new seasons. The Israeli cable TV channel Hot 3 transmits the episodes one or two days after their airing in the US.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvBEpAIvQlA

It’s the last season for Lost or so they say. It looked like kind of a dramatized ‘Survivor’ in the first season with flashbacks into the past lives of each of the characters, to evolve towards a combination of science-fiction and horror story in the 2nd and 3rd season. Then seasons 4 and 5 saw the story line getting more complicated, with multiple threads. The strike of the script writers crippled one of the last seasons, and with the number of episodes reduced to half, and the jumps into past starting to alternate with jumps into future as well as parallel presents generated by time travel, everything started to look more and more complicated. Sure, we became attached and some of us addicted to some of the characters, and felt like personal losses when some of them died, but at some moments the story lines seemed to become too many and too intermingled. For this reason I believe that the idea of the series producers to start the season with a look back into the previous seasons was very good. The prologue was really excellent, many of the blurry details from the previous season cleaned-up and became now more clear, some of the mystery characters found their places in the puzzle. The first two episodes aired last week start building up towards the final confrontation that will determine the fate of our heroes, of the island, and maybe of the planet. The good news is that with time travel and parallel life spans now well built into the logic of the script all characters have a second or third chance – even those we have seen dying in the previous seasons. At its pick ‘Lost’ is one of the best series in I have seen, getting close to the mythological ‘X-Files’. The thrill of great adventures that flows through good quality science fiction from Jules Verne to Spielberg is present here. Hopefully the great expectations will not be followed by a great disappointment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=399Hiwua0J4

24 has quite a different history. The best seasons were the first two ones in my opinion, as the concept of the 24 episodes telling in real-time one hour each of a story that happens during one calendar day was fresh. The initial team of actors were blessed with strong characters, and the intrigues in the halls of the counter-terrorist unit combined with the highest political level conflicts provided an interesting combination. As the show advanced in the next seasons the formula remained the same, so new thrills had to be found, new threats, new villains, new paths of treason. There is however a limit in how many ways the world can be saved in 24 hours, and after we have seen atomic bombs dropped on LA, ballistic rockets launched from the Mid West, dirty bombs contaminating DC, chemical attacks on the Big Apple, hostages at the White House and US presidents guilty of treason there is not much left even to the imagination. The problem with the last seasons of the show is that we almost can predict from start and with half a minute accuracy the murders, the lies, the cover-ups, and when will Jack Bauer torture and when he will be tortured. Unless something special happens  and there are no signs in the first four episodes of the 8th season, it’s time for ’24’ to be put to rest.

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Opera – ‘Flying Lessons’ at the Cameri Theatre

Posted on February 10, 2010 by admin

I do not want to let too much time pass before I write something about a performance that I enjoyed at the Cameri Theatre put on stage in collaboration with the new Israeli Opera. The name of the representation is ‘Lauf MeCan’ which translates literaly as ‘Fly Away from Here’ although in the show program the ‘official translation’ is ‘Flying Lessons’.

The legend says that the Jewish community of Djerba – an island out of the Tunisian coast – holds the secret of the door of the Temple in Jerusalem brought here by Jews that arrived here after the destruction of temple, Jews who hold the secret of flying. This is the premise of the opera whose music is composed by Ella Milch-Sheriff on a libretto by Nava Semel.

The action happens in the early 50s Israel, perceived as a time of innocence for the young and idealistic society that was gathering at that time refugees of the Holocaust in Europe meeting with the Oriental Jews whose majority did not go through the historical horror of the Holocaust, and the sabras born in Israel, apparently sure of their identity but missing the roots and not spared themselves from loss and tragedy. The coming of age of the society is symbolized by the coming of age of the hero of the story, a teenage girl who meets a surviving Jew from Djerba, one of the few places in North Africa whose Jews suffered the tragedy of the Holocaust. While trying to catch the ancient secret of flying, she will learn that the true power resides inside, that the flight is not necessarily towards a point in the sky but more towards inner self-understanding and power of dreaming.

The program calls the show a ‘chamber opera’ and this almost discouraged me from using two of my subscription tickets to see it. The music is first of all very accessible and I am not sure if ‘chamber operetta’ or ‘chamber musical’ would not have been better descriptions of what we hear. I actually never understood exactly what is the difference between a musical and an opera or operetta. Then the performance is directed by Yael Ronen who is one of the best directors of the Israeli theater nowadays, I have seen her Plonter a couple of years ago at the same theater, one of the best political plays seen in years on an Israeli stage. Here she uses a well inspired sets designed by Anat Sternschuss in a naive manner reminding the kids TV shows of the 70s and combines them with a Far East style of shadows theater. The result is simple, expressive and fit to the target.

Last but certainly not least it’s an opera, so the quality of the singing is determinant. The singers are just great. Einat Aronstein is one of the many young sopranos in a generation of Israeli talents that seems too rich to have just one place to produce themselves, so they need other opportunities than the ones offered by the big neighboring stage of the New Israeli Opera. Gabi Sadeh is one of the most experienced Israeli tenors. he may be beyond the pick of his career but the role of the old refugee Monsieur Maurice from the island of Djerba fits him perfectly, and his performance is superb not only musically but also from an acting perspective.

The performance that I attended last Saturday was supposed to be the last in a series of ten and only ten performances. The theatre was full, and I see on the Web site of the Theatre that another series of performances is planned starting with the end of April. Whoever is around, do not miss it.

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Film – ‘The Hurt Locker’ (US – 2009)

Posted on February 9, 2010 by admin

William James (acted by Oscar candidate for best lead role Jeremy Renner) is a character that is hard to forget. He is a soldier whose expertise is to defuse bombs. He played dices with fate more than 800 times and won each time. When he enters a bomb threat scene he walks directly to the target, with the sure straight walk of an American hero. His enthusiastic commander officers believe that he does ‘hot sh.t’ and congratulate him. His soldier fellows think that he is crazy and that he endangers himself and the other carelessly. When asked how he does it he shrugs and just says ‘I try to be careful and stay alive’.

William James is different from his fellow soldiers. Those are not heroes. They are just normal people, young men doing their tour of duty in Iraq, counting back the days to the end of the tour, and hoping that they will survive it. They are professional, well trained, but not heroes, and they work in a hostile and paranoiac reality, facing a country and a culture that they do not understand. Every civilian can be a terrorist, shooting can start from behind any sand dune or from around street corner, any bag, any car, any corpse can hide a bomb, any situation can escalate into violence.

The situations in the film are not totally new for those who have seen previous films about the Middle East conflict, and especially the Israeli films Beaufort and Lebanon. As in ‘Beaufort’ the soldiers are equipped with all possible armors and technical gadgets that make them superior militarily, but their superiority is apparent, as victory is not at hand because the reality around does not allow for military victory.  Same as in ‘Lebanon’ most of the soldiers are disoriented, cannot find the familiar milestones in a reality that speaks and behaves differently than the logic of their human experience. ‘Hurt Locker’ is ‘Beaufort’ and ‘Lebanon’ re-written and directed with the skills of a Hollywood professional.

One of the best scenes in director Kathryn Bigelow‘s film puts the hero in the situation of trying to find the parents or relative of an Iraqi teenager killed by rebels, and whose body was bobby-trapped with explosives. In a typical Hollywood movie hero gesture  he tries to find ways to tell the story of his death. Iraq does not behave however according to the classic film rules, the tentative turns into misunderstanding and almost ends in tragedy, and only a hysterical escape of the hero and armed soldier saves his life. Dialog seems impossible, human relations are poisoned by the hate and mistrust injected by the political situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3D_ZwodU1Y

Do we get to understand the motivation of the character? Actually never. The invincible hero has a family and a life that expects him after the tour of duty. When he is back home his wife does not understand his war stories and would rather have him slice the vegetables and fix the roof, and his kid does not really know him. His only thrill has become the war, actually an addiction, the addiction of playing dices with fate. We never get an explanation of the hero’s personal evolution in this strong and subtle anti-war movie . His tragedy started long before the action of the film starts. He is a victim of war as all the other.

The film was nominated for the Best Film Oscar. If there was any cinema justice on Earth ‘Hurt Locker’ should win rather than ‘Avatar’. Yet, I do not think that it holds any chance in the competition with a film that made maybe one hundred times the money. More information and reviews about the film can be read at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/

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O placere regasita

Posted on February 7, 2010 by admin

Regasesc dupa multe decenii o placere pierduta a tineretii mele din Romania. Putine erau publicatiile care in anii 70, cei din jurul si mai ales de dupa mini-revolutia culturala mai aduceau cititorului informatie nedeformata si nepoluata de propaganda despre ceea ce se intampla in cultura mondiala. Dintre aceste putine era si Romania Literara care in anumite perioade a reusit sa pastreze in unele dinte materialele sale un nivel cultural si o probitate intelectuala care sa fie demne de traditia presei literare romanesti.

Dintre articolele publicate de Romania Literara a acelor ani imi atrageau atentia in mod deosebit cronicile de carte straina ale Feliciei Antip. Erau o fereastra deschisa spre literatura si cultura contemporana a epocii. Felicia Antip scria despre carti pe care nu le citisem si la care cu greu puteam sa imi imaginez ca voi putea avea acces liber vreodata. Cand cu ani, cu prea multi ani mai tarziu am ajuns intr-un loc in care accesul la literatura si cultura lumii nu era mai dificil decat deplasarea pana la prima biblioteca publica, amintirea articolelor ei mi-a fost ghid in labirintul fenomenal care mi se deschisese in fata subit, si lista de lectura obligatorie in orientare.

Astazi ‘Romania Literara’ intr-o noua serie si cu o noua redactie dupa inca una dintre multele schimbari care marcheaza istoria unui astfel de ziar a reluat sirul de cronici de carte straina al Feliciei Antip. Primele articole sunt accesibile deja pe Internet la:

http://www.romlit.ro/instanta_ramane_in_pronuntare

http://www.romlit.ro/coetzee_ca_j._c.

Nu pot decat sa ma bucur ca intelectualii din Romania de astazi si mai ales tinerii au din nou la indemana aceasta sursa de informatii scrisa inteligent si competent, cu dragoste fata de carte si respect fata de cultura si valorile sale. Altele sunt astazi problemele cu care se confrunta intelectualii romani si mai ales cei tineri. Nu cenzura este cea care bareaza accesul la cartea si cultura lumii, ci ceata deasa a confuziei si zgomotul asurzitor al contra-culturii ieftine. Mai mult ca oricand scrieri ca ale Feliciei Antip sunt azi necesare.

Dupa multi ani am avut ocazia sa o cunosc personal pe Felicia, intai in spatiul de discutii internetice, apoi si personal. Nu cred ca am spus de destule ori cuvantul care cred ca pentru ea este principala recompensa din partea cititorilor sai pentru cele scrise atunci, acum si pentru cele pe care le va mai scrie – ‘Multumesc’.

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Film – Das weisse Band (Michael Haneke – 2009)

Posted on February 7, 2010 by admin

The full title in German of the film is  ‘Das weisse Band – Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte’ – ‘The White Ribbon – A German Children Story’ which could translate as ‘story for children’ or ‘story about children’. A story for children it certainly is not – Michael Haneke is the author of some of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen, and if there is some sense in age rating of movies, I would avoid showing his films to children under a certain age to protect them emotionally. It is a story about children, and the film can certainly be categorized in the genre of these horror stories where the Devil seems to be incarnated by innocence, and for sure a good one in the genre. Haneke knows how to create and maintain tension, how to film the real while suggesting the missing, how to pass the anxiety beyond the polish of civility. But the film tries to be much more.

The White Ribbon / Das Weisse Band

We are actually warned from start what the film is about. The story happens in the year prior to the first world war, in a rural area of Germany, where the social and moral system in place for centuries seems to have little chances to change. Peasants work the Baron’s fields and gardens, the priest and the Church defend the existing order and the morals, teacher and priests are not more than associates of the existing order. And yet strange things start to happen, some get obvious explanations in the human conflicts, other remain unsolved – accidents, deaths, violent deeds. As the story is told by the teacher of the village many years after the events we know exactly the location in time of the events, and we know that the storms of history will blow up the whole system and apparent tranquility of life soon. However, before war starts the life fabric seems to deteriorate from inside, the whole society and its institutions – church, medical practice, family fife – are deeply sick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUj9gDtA9HQ

The thesis of Michael Haneke is not far from the one of the American author Norman Mailer in his book ‘The Castle in the Forest’ (I wrote about it in Romanian at http://updateslive.blogspot.com/2007/12/castle-in-forest-de-norman-mailer.html). As Mailer goes back into the ascendancy of Adolf Hitler trying to discover the roots of evil in his family life and sins of his ancestors, Haneke takes a more general approach and tries to discover the roots of Nazism in the internal conflicts, the puritanism, the unspoken dark secrets of the family life of a constrained society. Obsession with order and discipline, education by punishment and guilt, tight guarding of the appearances of morality without deeds being true to principles do not necessarily lead to the order and quietness that is aimed, but long term can generate quite in the contrary. In a society where speaking the truth and revealing the evil at small scale are less important than keeping appearances of social order the freedom is in danger the evil can develop at bigger scale.

All this is spoken in few words by the off-screen commentary of the village teacher who tells the story, but is not explicit in the cinema language of the film. The impact of the film would not have been that deep without the master cinematographic treatment that Haneke applies to the story. First the black and white image fits perfect the world that is being described, and not only because its a world still lit by gas lamps, but also because the lack of colors reminds the classic German expressionist films that caught in the epoch contemporary or soon after the action of the film takes place the same type of angst. Then the acting is simply amazing. Many of the important characters in the film are kids or teenagers, and Haneke had to do a rigorous selection to select his best actors. he succeeded at utmost, I have seldom seen such a range of kids characters, each of them different, human, true. They seem to belong to their time, and to live through the painful coming of age, which is their growth into maturity in a world which becomes ugly.The tension between the not so innocent childhood they are going through and the adult world that tries to educate them by oppressing their feelings, punishing and inflicting them a permanent state of guilt is well acted and described beyond words.

Haneke avoids to make a harsh judgment. The whole fabric of human relations is not dark, we do have a love story between the teacher and nanny and we do have the innocent gesture of a kid trying to provide consolation to his father by making him a present that is the most important thing in his universe, which say that even in the darkest times and circumstances there is still hope that a flame of humanity is kept alive.  He does not completely solve the mystery of everything that has happened on screen. As in real life some facts remained unexplained, and judgments, even historical judgments need not be fully radical, and and good that such it is.

More details and comments can be found at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149362/. The film took the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year and is a candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar this year, with good chances to win the prize.

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Jerusalemite Weaving

Posted on February 5, 2010 by admin

When I went out for a night walk near the Old City Walls I amused myself photographing a winter-stricken tree in the cold light of the Jerusalem night and of the moon. The results were quite interesting, so I decided to share them.

weaving 1

weaving 2

weaving 3

weaving 4

weaving 5

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Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem

Posted on February 4, 2010 by admin

Jerusalem, Notre Dame Center

Almost everything is Jerusalem is about history.

Almost everything in Jerusalem is about faith.

Almost everything in Jerusalem is about beauty.

The Notre Dame Center at the end of the Jaffa Road and near the walls of the Old City and the Flowers Gate is no exception. The center hosted the seminar organized by the Forum for Liberal Thinking last weekend which Liliana and me attended.

The history of the Center goes back to the end of the 19th century, when at the time of the end of the Ottoman rule over the Holy Land the European powers of the time were establishing pilgrimage centers, educational and social institutions, and some of them were settling in small communities, trying to establish a presence in the most famous city in history. A Catholic congregation called the French Assumptions started to bring pilgrims and decided to establish a center on land situated near the French Hospital, by the walls of the Old City. Started in 1885 the building was completed and inaugurated in 1904, embellished with a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary, a replica of a Parisian statue.

Jerusalem Notre Dame Center in the past century

The building could host 500 people, it served as seminar, hostel, and center of studies for almost half a century. In 1948 during the Israel Independence war the area was on the front line of the fights between the Jewish Haganah and the Arab Legion troops. I did a research in the New York Time reports archive and the result was fascinating – between May and August 1948 the control of the building changed several times. The cease fire after the war drew the separation line just near  the building, with the Center in the Israeli area and the Old City in the Jordanian area of the divided city of Jerusalem as it was between 1948 and 1967. The wing facing the Old City was badly damaged in the war, and for some time it was used by the army because of its strategic position.

top of the building with the Virgin Mary statue

Only a few years after the 1967 war the Holy See took over the responsibility of the place, and started the rennovation work that brought the building to its present beauty. A conference center was added, and a modern hotel opened. Since 2004 the care and running of the center was assigned to the Legionaries or Christ priests. Pope Benedict XVI stayed here during his visit last year.

 

conference center

It is a beautiful building by day and also by night, when it is illuminated same as the walls of the Old City on the other side of the street.

Jerusalem Notre Dame Center by night

The interior is decorated in a very special style, with stone walls and arcades reminding the medieval monasteries in Europe. Modern religious paintings are decorating the hallways and the rooms, many of them are really beautiful. The rooms are simple but very clean and well maintained, all the basic equipment that you can find in a good hotel is there. What is missing is the distraction of a TV set (so I could start reading a good book), on the other hand wireless Internet connectivity is available.

hotel reception

hotel hallway - first floor

hallway 3rd floor

There is a chef restaurant in the hotel named ‘La Rotisserie’ – we had lunch there and it was excellent. Try the Latrun Sauvignon Blanc if you are in mood for white wine, it’s good, unexpensive, and you cannot find it in many places in Israel.

La Rotisserie Restaurant

The center has a large and beautiful church.

the church

A permanent exhibition is dedicated to the Shroud of Turin. If you have not seen the documentary or read the National Geographical article a few years ago, or even if you did it it’s a good opportunity to learn more about one of the most venerated and most controversial relics in the history of the Christianity, said to be the burial shroud of Jesus.

Exhibition of the Shroud of Turin

In the reception hall of the center there is another exhibition which deals with the project of the Magdala Center that the same congregation is building on the shores of the Kineret (Sea of Galilee). Our group received explanations (in Hebrew!) from father Kelly. Of Irish origins, he is one of the leaders of the group of priests who live and work in this place. During the construction works an important archeological discovery was made in the place – a synagogue dating from the period before the Jewish revolt in year 66. A menorah representation carved in stone was one of the findings, which is unique for the Jewish synagogues of the period, and may have been a representation of the big menorah in the Temple in Jerusalem.

father Kelly talking about the Magdala Center

from the exhibition about the Magdala Center

History. Faith. Beauty.

Jerusalem.

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