Charlie Bear Visits Jerusalem

July 9, 1963

Oh what a beautiful day it was!! The sun was shining and Charlie Bear could see for miles and miles and miles. He yawned and stretched and said to Mrs. Charlie Bear, “This is a wonderful day to go traveling. Guess I’ll go to the place the children have been reading about in Sunday School. Want to take a trip with me over to Jerusalem?”

“That sounds like a lot of fun. But, no,” said Mrs. Charlie Bear, “I think I’ll stay home and make a blueberry pie.”

So Charlie bear told her he would go alone and bring back a present. He put on his traveling cap, whirled around three times, turned a somersault and there he was – just outside a high wall with lots of people all about. Some where dressed in clothes just like people wear in America, some wore long dresses that almost touched the ground and some wore tight fitting pants with big baggy seats.

On their heads some wore little rimless bright colored cotton caps, call some wore thin white clothes wrapped around their heads, and some had red and white checkered clothes hanging down from their heads covering their shoulders… And all of them were busy going either in or out of the wall through an opening that was as wide as the street you live on.

Then Charlie Bear thought he’d go inside the wall too. He walked over the cobbled stones to the other side and just stopped and looked – cause he didn’t know where to go… there were so many streets. Some were wide enough for cars, some were so narrow they were only wide enough for donkeys, and some were wide enough for horses to pull a small wagon. It was one of these wide enough for horses that Charlie Bear decided to take.

As he walked along he saw small shops on both sides of the street – not shops like in American cities but tiny ones only as wide as a door and a window and the doors and the windows were all open because it was warm and sunny.

Charlie Bear looked in one door and saw a man sitting on the floor sewing with what looked like gold thread. Charlie Bear couldn’t believe his eyes so he went in to look closer. There he saw a small boy sitting in the back of the shop holding strands of gold in his mouth while he twisted them with his fingers to make thread for his father to use.

The next store was a meat store. Hanging outside the window was a leg of lamb, some beef and some dried meat. Well, Charlie Bear had never before seen anything like this. And so he went in and asked the storekeeper why the meat was hanging outside the store. The store man gave him a very logical answer, “So the people can see what I have for sale today.”

While Charlie Bear was in the store, someone came in asking for a chicken. My, oh my, oh my!! Wasn’t Charlie Bear amazed when the store keeper put his hand into a crate where there were several live hens, pulled one out and sold it just like that!!! Charlie bear asked, “Why don’t you kill the hen, take the feathers off and clean it before you sell it?” And the store man answered, “Chicken meat will spoil very quickly in this weather, so the hen will stay alive until the water is boiling in the pot.” Charlie Bear just stood there, thought a minute and then realized, “Why – what do you think of that? Many of these people do not have refrigerators!!”

Charlie Bear said goodbye to the meat man and went on to another store. Where do you suppose he went? He just went and followed his nose – sniff – sniff – sniff. My, oh my, oh my. He never in his whole long life ever smelled anything so good. When he went into the store which was the third door up on the right hand side of the street, there was a whole big tray of pastry made with lots of honey. Is there anything a bear likes more than honey? Nope – not Charlie Bear – unless it’s blueberry pie.

Very politely Charlie Bear pointed to the pastry (if one can ever point politely. He really had to point because he didn’t know the name of the pastry) and asked the shopkeeper if he could have a piece. The man was happy to sell Charlie Bear a piece and told him the name of it was Baklava.

Yes, it tasted as good as it smelled. It was about an inch high made of layer on layer on layer of very thin pastry with butter and crushed walnuts and honey between each layer. It was sooo good that Charlie Bear bought a piece for Mrs. Charlie Bear… and another one for himself. He wrapped them carefully and as he was putting them in his pocket, he looked at his watch and realized it was time to go home.

So he put on his traveling cap, whirled around three times, turned a somersault and there was Mrs. Charlie Bear taking the blueberry pie out of the oven.

Charlie Bear told her all about his wonderful trip – put his hand in his pocket and gave her the piece of wonderful tasting honey pastry. Mrs. Charlie bear ate the Baklava and it tasted so yummy that she wondered if Charlie Bear would like her blueberry pie.

Yes, indeed he did. They sat down together and ate it up and decided to go again to Jerusalem but next time to take the children, little Charlie Bear and little Annie Bear with them.