Age and mystery.

As I walk through one of the 12 gates to Jerusalem's Old City I enter a place of mystery and antiquity. According to Jewish tradition, Abraham's ancestors founded it over 4,500 years ago. It is a city with many layers: the Roman occupation, the Christian Crusades, the Arab Caliphates, the Ottoman Empire and the British mandate.

All this history makes me feel small. It brings back one of the most beautiful Hebrew songs, which I was taught as a Jewish schoolchild in Mexico: Yerushalayim shel zahav (Jerusalem of Gold).

   Oh, Jerusalem of gold,
   and of light and of bronze,
   I am the lute for all your
   songs....
   I am the least of all your
   children,
   Of all the poets born.