Since Passover starts Saturday night immediately following the end of the sabbath, the last efforts to rid the home of leaven are underway throughout the country. Most people have been cleaning their homes for the last several days, and the last ritual is to gather the final bit of leaven and take it outside to be burned. In the first photo below, you can see the bread that our neighbors were burning.
Interestingly, while some are getting rid of the last bits of their leaven, others are busy getting their last bites of leaven for the next 8 days. Business at bakeries and pizza shops has been booming this week, and today, it is really booming.
Below, you can see the crowd in our favorite pizza shop, Sababa Pizza. In order to service the rush, they brought in a few extra tables and had a man clearing the tables as soon as someone appeared to be finished. For those that haven’t dined out in Israel, that is unusual. Normally, diners are allowed to sit as long as they want without any hint that they should make room for those waiting, regardless of how many people are waiting. Not today.
Once upon a time, pizza shops closed during Passover. But that has changed in the last few years. Starting Sunday night, Sababa and other pizza shops will serve pizza on potato bread pizza dough, which doesn’t contain leaven. Most hamburger chains have followed suit, though not too long ago, hamburgers were served between matza crackers during Passover.
Due to the personal nature of prayer, even at a large public venue, I try to be discreet in taking photographs at The Wall. I realize that some people don’t want their picture taken at all, while others, for the sake of public appearance, pretend to not want their pictures taken. Others don’t mind at all, and sometimes even ask to have their picture taken. I ran into such a situation on my last photo shoot at The Wall: some wanted me to take pictures, others didn’t.
Suddenly from behind me on the right a wave of men dressed in the standard issue black and white uniform flowed toward The Wall in a way I had never seen before. In the front of that wave of people was an elderly man whom I could tell was the reason for the crowd and the anxiety. The crowd that was already at The Wall opened up to allow this apparently holy man to approach The Wall in the way I envision the Red Sea opening up to allow Moses and the children of Israel to pass. As soon as I saw the wave of people moving in from my right, I got to my feet and tried to position myself for some good shots of whatever it was that was happening. But I was too late because just as quickly as the wall of people opened, it closed, and the special guest was sealed inside, safely within the admiration of his followers and protected from people like me.
The crowd continued to swell as word of the man’s arrival spread. I could feel myself being pushed further and further away from the guest of honor, but I was determined to find an open view of that man, whoever he was. I moved around the mob, first left, then right, looking for a view. Finally, on the far right, I was able to weave my way in front of some of the more timid onlookers and see him, face close to the wall, prayer book in hand, moving back and forth as he prayed.
Perhaps the most interesting thing in the whole process, was that a group of teenagers had made their way close to the elderly man and were serving, for lack of a better word, as his posse. It seemed that their responsibility was to keep people like me at a distance, or at least block my view. And once they saw me raise my camera, they went into action. They never approached me, they simply crowded together in a way that blocked my view. Well, most of the time. They were in a dilemma: should they give more attention to me, or to praying with their leader? So, as they bobbed back and forth in prayer, occasionally looking back over their shoulders as a warning to me, they occasionally gave me clear views of The Man.
As I sat thinking about that brief conversation, another of the “Holy Man’s” admirers approached me. However, unlike the previous fan of The Man, with a big smile on his face the second man asked, “Did you get some good pictures of him?” “Yes,” I answered. “Do you know who He is?” “No, perhaps you can tell me,” I offered. “He’s a very famous teacher. Do you think you got some good pictures?” “Yes,” I assured him. “Well, if you got some good pictures, would you send me a couple? You should try to get some more. Try from the other side and send those to me, too.” I entered my phone number in his mobile phone so that he could give me an address because neither of us had a pen or paper. He seemed really happy at the prospects of getting some photos of the “Holy Man” praying at The Wall at Passover. However, he never called. So, I guess if he reads this, he can see some of the photos he missed.