Kum Vehithalech Ba'aretz: "Get up and walk the land!"

When we planned this trip, we said we were not going to get a car. Number one, we did not want to have to drive around Israelis- especially not in Jerusalem! The news doesn't report car accidents here, but they take many more lives than the terrorism that is in the news every day. But I also had this feeling that walking around Israel would just be better, on some deeper level. Over the last two weeks, I have been thinking a lot about what it is that makes walking around in Israel so powerful. I think I haven't evolved to take life in at 50 miles an hour- or even at 25 miles an hour (or kilometers, but I still haven't gotten used to those). The world passes us by so quickly when we're in a car, and we need to be thinking about cars and traffic laws, and we inevitably have music or some radio station playing with the windows closed.

Granted, I walked around Jerusalem, wandering with two children in a double stroller and one in a backpack, in the rain, dragging around a duffel full of pots and pans, looking for a mikva in which I could ritually immerse my dishes. We wandered the city for several hours, only to find an enormous swamp-like puddle which I saw fit to use as a mikva for our dishes. (I later found out that there is a beautiful, brand new mikva around the corner from us, but that's besides the point.) I understand that when we rented a car for a few days, it did not take an entire day to do one errand, but I am not sure that being productive is all it's cracked up to be. We're all in such a rush to accomplish so many things, be in touch with so many people, go to so many places. I think taking a walk and focusing on a single task at a time is a luxury that many of us have forgotten how to enjoy. There is a kind of beauty in its simplicity. Now that Tikva started Gan, and it's a 25 minute walk from our house, the car has grown in its appeal, since the regular commute first thing in the morning especially, is a drag. A part of me wants to see it through, though-- for the experience. Even without listing the many health benefits, it seems like walkers live a more contemplative, rich life. I want to be a walker.