Chapter 16 Driving to Jerusalem, 9/11 Memorial

We are finally heading to Jerusalem and we pass these really high fences that don't look like noise buffers. Ronit explains that they are 12' tall anti-sniper barricades that were erected when the Palestinians in the West Bank, which borders the highway, were shooting at the Israeli traffic. Route 443 (Israel) Not a very comforting thought but it appears there is no line of site to take pot shots at the bus (have you seen the movie "Babel"?).

We get to Jerusalem early enough to change some of our itinerary and head towards the 9/11 Memorial which was just recently dedicated. There is a 1 lane narrow road, paved thank goodness, that winds up a hillside for about 2 miles. Thankfully there are very few vehicles coming in the opposite direction.
The 9/11 Memorial is awe inspiring when we first see it and on the opposite side of a valley facing on of Jerusalem's largest cemeteries on the other.

We search for the name of Terre's daughter, Mary Jo Kimmelman, and find it.

Terre reads a poem entitled "What Is a Name?" written by Mary Jo.

We recite the Kaddish prayer. It is a very emotional moment for everyone.

We have to drive back down the road in the direction we came and as we're driving along this 1 lane country road, Ronit tells the driver to stop the bus, whispers something to him and they both run off the bus.  They proceed to quickly walk along the side of the road stopping at each tree and picking something off the tree. After they've loaded their pockets, they get back on the bus and start handing out unripe almonds.

We tear off the fuzzy green coating to get to the nut's shell and then break that open so we can eat the nut which tastes sort of like a barely ripe green bean. It's very soft and doesn't taste anything like an almond.

The bus continues down the road, gets back on the highway and then continues to Mt. Scopus where we recite the Barucha over wine and sip from olive wood kiddush cups that the bus driver brought with him. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the small cups we're holding.

We then watch the sun set over Jerusalem before heading to the hotel.