Once upon a time, but not so very long ago, a university campus held court in the ancient city of Jerusalem. Low stone buildings nestled among rolling green hills, overlooking the Israel Museum and the garden neighborhoods of Bet Hakerem and Nayot. There were no gates and no security fences. Students entered the campus from all directions, strolling on the shaded walkways and lolling on the grass before and after classes. Israel was basking in the afterglow of the Six Day War. The campus was a world of openness, and all were invited.
The study halls were concentrated on one end of the campus, and on the other end were the dormitories. Dormitory space was much in demand. Israeli students filled the dorms to bursting, enjoying the luxuries of central hot water and heating which most Jerusalem homes, in those days, lacked. Whenever a bed became vacant, there were ten or twenty applicants eager to immediately move in. So when the university established a program for foreign students, it was decided to allocate them a special dormitory, slightly behind the other buildings and half-hidden by gnarled olive trees.
From the outside, the building looked the same as all the others – a one story rectangular house built of chiseled rose-colored Jerusalem stone. Inside as well, there was the same communal kitchen with its wall of stainless steel refrigerators, enamel sink and electric hotplates, the same bare bathrooms and showers, the same dorm rooms with twin beds, two desks, two closets and one...
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