The Perfect Sunrise

I wrote this last week while I was sitting on the porch of my hotel at 6am listening to to the church bells mingling with the sounds of the birds as I watched the sun rise over the the old city walls of Jerusalem. It was the final morning of my trip to Israel and as I sat there alone in tranquility I thought to myself how lucky I was to be able to be sitting at this spot overlooking the old city walls. I thought of how many Jews have died for the sake of the Jewish people and the Jewish state so that I am able to be sitting here. How many of my forefathers have prayed for a return to Jerusalem over the last two thousand years yet I am the one that fulfills their prayers.

The morning started out chilly yet as the sun peaked out above the walls it gradually warmed me. The sun rise lit up the Jerusalem stone on the Eastern face of the hotel bringing about an abundance of beautiful colors within the stone. It was a beautifully clear day with only a few clouds and I could clearly see the building and minarets in the old city rising above the city walls.

The birds were busy picking up scraps from a nearby table that went uncleaned from the night before. A large hawk like bird would fly down to the table pick up the morsel of food and quickly fly away to the date palm tree where the nest is located. They would fly to the top of the hotel and gawk proclaiming their territory. A smaller finch bird would fly in and quickly grab a scrap while the hawk was not nearby. All the time the songs of the birds were beautifully filling the auditory void.

Every five minutes the church bells would ring for about fifteen seconds until seven o'clock when they rang for about two minutes getting progressively louder then fading away. I suspect this was an alarm clock for the Monks to come for prayer. About every thirty minutes I could see a helicopter travelling from North to South. It was travelling East of the old city likely patrolling the West Bank region.

I was very sad sitting there on that last day as I enjoyed the beauty of that morning. I wondered when would be the next time I will be able to return. Will there be a next time? I became jealous of the Arab waiter who was cleaning the tables and gets to experience this sunrise every morning. I was jealous of the doorman who although doesn't have the view from the porch can listen to the beautiful songs of the birds and talks to them with his bird calls.

Gradually, human activity began competing with the tranquility of the morning. The sounds of traffic and construction, voices from the hotel, cigarette smoke from a person who came outside to smoke start interfering with my perfect sunrise. Only a few precious minutes are left to listen to the birds and watch the sunrise and I try to concentrate to slow down time.

At about eight O'clock my daughter finds me sitting on the porch and asks if I want to go exercise with her. I am torn between the beauty of the morning and the request of my daughter. The last hours in Jerusalem with my daughter will transpire quickly and I thoroughly enjoyed my trip with her yet this morning's sunrise over the old city walls is a highlight which is burned into my memory. I go inside to change and leave the porch saddened to leave the perfect morning but excited to spend the last few hours of my trip with my daughter.

I eagerly await the next time I will be able to spend a morning watching the sun rise over the old city walls of Jerusalem. I feel very fortunate to be able to have this experience while generations before were unable and appreciate the sacrifice of the many that have died so that I can be here.