(Eine deutsche Version wird folgen)
If
you have your own garden, I am sure you are very fond of it. Even if you aren’t
the most passionate gardener or suffering from compulsory BBQ-syndrome, you’ll
appreciate the joy of your private little outdoor space. The times you go out
there may be relatively few compared to the effort it takes to maintain its
beauty. However, knowing that the possibility is there makes the difference. A
garden means a little more space and a lot of additional freedom where you feel
at home. Because usually, outside is a space you pass through when you need to
get somewhere. You are either on your way to some place or from some place. A
garden is the only outside space where you can slow down, stop and stay for a
while.
I
live on the 2nd floor in a rather crowded Jerusalem neighborhood. No
garden here to call my own. But in Jerusalem, if you don’t mind sharing, you
can still enjoy the benefits of a family-garden. A huge piece of lawn stretches
itself from a major junction near the entrance of the city, along the wide Ben-Tsvi-Boulevard
on the one side and the Knesset premises on the other side, all the way down
almost to the center of town. It is shaped like a valley, framed by trees and
bushes on both long sides, surrounded and crossed by walking paths. At the north
side there is a large skate park as well as basket ball and soccer fields. For
the smaller children there are swings and slides and whatever people put in
their gardens to entertain their offspring. And for those who like to work out
there is outdoor exercise equipment under some shade providing trees. Not to
forget men’s best friend, who is highly appreciative of the outdoors, has his
own free running field a little to the side and away from the crowd.
The
place is called “Gan Sacher”, which translates into Sacher Garden. Commonly it
is referred to as Sacher Park, but I prefer to call it a garden, because that’s
really what it feels like.
We
like to spend Saturday afternoons in the Garden. We, that is me - a German-born
blond from a family of business people, my partner - a seventh-generation
Jerusalemite from a family of musicians with Yemenite orientation and our
snow-white dog Kika, who spent most of her life in a dog shelter. Our first
stop is the dog field. After we set Kika free, we make ourselves comfortable on
one of the benches scattered close to the fence and just watch dogs of all
types, shapes and sizes romp around. People hang out on the grass or on the
benches, some read books, others chat, we drink our tea.
Next
we make our way to the table tennis in the main garden right next to the
exercise equipment. There are always a lot of people and Kika attracts many
curious children. Especially the haredic (Jewish-ultra-orthodox) children seem
to cherish the opportunity to pet our serene companion. There are children
speaking Russian and Arabic, some are black, their parents watch from a
distance or come to take a closer look. We play a few games of Ping-Pong and sooner
or later someone usually joins in. Often it’s the guy who continuously sings Israeli
folk songs or talks and only shuts up when he is about to lose the game. Sometimes
the foreign worker from Nigeria, who beats everyone with a smile comes by or the
American lady from a fancy neighborhood, who doesn’t want her husband to know,
that she comes here to play. Next to us there is always some young hunk making
push-ups or pull-ups and as soon as he’s gone the next hunk jumps in.
Later
we take a walk through the entire Garden before we chill out somewhere on the
lawn. I never seize to be amazed at the unbelievable diversity of people and
the variety of their activities. There is always something going on on the
sports fields and skate park, put it doesn’t end there. Groups of people play
all kinds of ballgames, including some that I have never seen and can not
figure out the rules for. Young and old play baseball or Frisbee, some do Yoga
or Tai Chi, some wrestle or do acrobatics. The most recent trend is to stretch
a special rope between two trees at about one meter above the ground and try to
walk on it.
On
the paths little children ride their bikes, grown-ups make their rounds
jogging, young couples walk hand in hand or with their stroller, old couples
also walk hand in hand or push their walkers.
The
majority of people celebrate their time outside with food. Couples have a
romantic twosome picnic. Entire clans sit around their BBQs and tables full of home
cooked cuisine. If you went from one to the next and tasted a little of each,
it would equal a culinary trip around the globe. The smells merge in mid-air
over the Garden. Some even take it a step further and celebrate their children’s
birthday in the Garden. They either play music themselves or bring their
loudspeakers so they can sing and dance. If this isn’t your type of fun, the
garden is big enough to stay out of the noises reach.
Jerusalem
is a multicultural city and it is reflected in the Sacher Garden in its most
natural way. Coexistence isn’t just a word.
A
group of young Arab-speaking boys will sit chatting under a tree, while little
girls in their long haredic skirts are running around playing catch. An Ethiopian
woman, who barely had time to learn Hebrew, yet, will bring her child to see
the baby of a European Christian couple doing charity work for a year. An old
man with roots in Iraq, walking with his Philippine caretaker will take a break
sitting down on the bench next to the intellectual reading a book on philosophy
in French. Jerusalem is the home of all of these people and they all feel that
they can be themselves in their garden. When they meet they smile, make sure to
give each other space and often lend a hand. And when they meet they all speak
Hebrew (more or less) in the Jerusalem Family Garden.
