Jerusalem before Rosh Hashannah

The week of preparations for Rosh Hashanah in Jerusalem, Israel,

begins with a very late Saturday night.

Hundreds tried to pack into Ohel Nechama Synagogue

for special musical selichot service at 11:30 pm,

led by Yitzhak Meir.

It was too crowded and hot for me,

so I went to the Great Synagogue,

where over a thousand people,

came to hear the Chazan who always draws a large crowd.

Then on to the Old City and the Kotel, Western Wall,

where groups of men gathered to read the Selihot prayers.

Thousands of people were there.

Remember this is already after 1:00 am,

and people were still arriving as I left.

But walking through the Rova, the Jewish Quarter,

I heard singing and music.

I followed the sounds to a small synagogue where another

Carlebach-style minyan was going on and on.

There were other large crowds

on the Jerusalem, Israel streets this week,

but you probably did not hear about them.

This bus blocked Emek Refaim Street,

for a neighborhood street fair sponsored

 by Yad2, a second-hand selling group.

Huge crowds turned out and the streets were full.

Young and old were able to stroll and shop,

to the music of many different musicians playing along the street.

A man inside this inflated costume performed all kinds of contortions

as a Klezmer Band played in the background.

This puppeteer had an impressive collection of puppets

and put on a show that involved children in the audience.

Many street entertainers performed,

it was a colorful event that went on for hours,

but I had to leave.

I was walking over to Hansen House

for a special event.

A much smaller crowd gathered in the courtyard,

of the Old Leper Hospital,

under renovation as a cultural and tech center.

Six impressive Israeli StartUps presented.

Lishtot, a way to test water quality in two seconds,

won the StartUp Open 2015 competition

of the Global Entrepreneurship Network.

Lishtot will represent Israel in the global contest to be held in November.

And then,

the skies filled with dirt,

with particles too small to be called a sandstorm,

but a miserable haze,

where the Old City Walls were difficult to see.

Hot and dirty air is keeping me off the streets today.

But, before Rosh Hashannah I would rather go

back to photos from earlier in the week to end,

on a much more pleasant note.

שנה טובה

Happy New Year.

Statue of musicians in Mamilla Mall not enough,

here are links for two short videos

of Old City selihot.

 Chziki Sofer not only sings Carlebach, he sounds like Reb Shlomo.