Day 9 The Most Important Jew

We visited Jaffa, Tel Aviv, and the shiny new ANU Museum of the Jewish people today.

The ancient city of Jaffa was Jerusalem's extension on the coast. David and Solomon needs cedar from Lebanon? Import through Jaffa. Jaffa has a city gate called Jerusalem Gate and Jerusalem has a city gate called Jaffa Gate. They have the same Ottoman-style, L-shape floor plan to their city gates for better defense. The earliest Christian pilgrims — the Armenians — landed in Jaffa. Napoleon destroyed Jaffa.

Word has it that Jaffa even makes it into Greek mythology: Remember Perseus and Andromeda, Poseidon, and Medusa? Guess who Andromeda’s father is? King of Jaffa.

In recent history, Jaffa was a fierce conflict ground. Today, the traditional families have been replaced with artisans.

The ANU museum tries to answer the question: what does it mean to be a Jew? Jewish families have adopted from and contributed to cultures all around the world, from Bollywood to Hollywood. Who knew that West Side Story was originally East Side Story? The “Jewish culture” today seems more like a mix pot of world cultures. In jest, the museum documentary says, “being Jewish means being able to pack quickly...”

Many famous people were featured in that museum, from Einstein to Sheinfeld to Bob Dylan. But I like what my guide said at the end of today: “there is one most important (read influential) Jew that is not featured in this museum — Jesus.” I give her credit for saying that, especially given how the Jewish collective memory recalls being treated more kindly by the Muslim states than by Christian ones. Again: complicated.