Time Traveling with Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts

One of the most “tragic” things about living in Israel is that we are just so busy living. Work on Sundays. Kids in school six days a week. Errands, afterschool activities, laundry. Dog walking. Tuesday work dates.

So at least once a week during the winter and spring, if the weather cooperates, I try to take the kids on a mini-hike to see what’s blooming. I’m a visual person, so a reminder right before my eyes of Israel’s natural beauty helps to prod me into feeling amazed that we live here.

Of course, the wildflowers that grow here aren’t necessarily confined to our borders.

What we do have in Israel that is unique is layers upon layers of Jewish history. In a corner of Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, the layers have been gently peeled back and exposed; sometimes iconic buildings have been reconstructed, sometimes purposely left in ruins.

Along with 11 other bloggers, I participated in one of Tali Tarlow’s Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts. (Disclosure: for free.) It was riotously fun, as well as edifying for me–someone whose grasp of Jewish history (outside of America, I mean–American Jewish History is kind of my wheelhouse) is spotty at best.

After almost a solid week of rain and grey skies, it was a welcome relief to bask in some sunshine on Friday morning. Even squint a little. As if I know where my sunglasses are. Ha!

Tali and Jeremy, our guides

The two-hour tour of the Jewish Quarter took us to both major thoroughfares and quiet alleys, zigzagging from the modern era to the Assyrian period, the Roman period to the Middle Ages. We “met” historical figures who ranged from the Ramban to the Rav of the Kotel to the youngest casualty of the  fight for the Old City in the War of Independence (he was 10). The scavenger hunt included tasks, none of them too strenuous.

The renovated Hurva synagogue, freshly scrubbed from oodles of rain.

My team of four came in a close second–luckily only a touch of pride was at stake–but I left with a profound sense of gratitude that I am living where centuries of Jewish history live too. I’ll be able to bring my kids to Jerusalem and tell them about 1948, about 1270, about the Romans and Assyrians and King David. It is literally spilled out before us.

The Romans were here. Of course.

The scavenger hunt itself had clear directions and the tasks at each stop could be divided among people of many different ages. We agreed that even a child as young as 5 or 6 could participate (with older kids and adults; a group of 5 or 6 year olds would be an entirely different kettle of fish). Although the route took a couple of hours, it was very self-contained–the Jewish Quarter is small to begin with, and the scavenger hunt was further circumscribed within that–and there were always walls or steps to sit on for a spell if necessary.

A tree grows in the Old City. An orange tree! O winter delights!

It was a lovely and entertaining morning spent with friends both new and not-as-new, and I enthusiastically recommend Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts as a great way to dig into the city.