rjstreets – Page 150 – The Real Jerusalem Streets

Jerusalem: Exhaustion in August

August 7, 2012rjstreets

Most of Israel may be on holiday in August, but in Jerusalem

things begin to heat up and not just the weather.

After the three sad weeks leading up to Tisha B’Av,

mourning turns into serious celebrating,

with wedding season and festival time.

During the first week of August,

the Israel Museum hosted a successful Israeli Wine Festival.

Festivals once again range from,

an International Puppet Festival to a beer festival at the end of the month!

Schools are out and summer camps are over,

so it is time once again to keep the kids busy.

Khutzot Hayotser, The International Arts and Crafts Fair,

near the Old City in the Sultan’s Pool, with its

huge stage for nightly entertainment has been held for almost 40 years.

Running from August 6-18 and similar to recent years,

food, local artists’ works and international crafts are for sale.

A relative newcomer to the August festival season is the Balabasta Festival,

held on Sunday nights in August in Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk.

Some businesses closed early,

but others were well stocked.

Balabasta seemed more small child-friendly than it was last year,

with puppet shows,

balloons,

balancing acts,

a juggler and a 5:00pm advertised start time.

By 6:30 pm, the laundry was hung and the alleyways were getting crowded.

I caught a familiar face from last year

as he was coming out of a store,

and he quickly gained new fans.

There was music of all kinds

and art of many types,

culture in Jerusalem is so varied it can be hard to define,

and to take it all in can be exhausting.

It is probably impossible to attend all the Jerusalem festivals,

but if you want to try, here are a few more suggestions and

more Balabasta photos on The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook page.

Tisha B’Av in Jerusalem

August 1, 2012July 13, 2020rjstreets

Did you hear about Tisha B’Av in Jerusalem, Israel?

By now you must have heard that Mitt Romney was in Jerusalem

on the fast day of Tisha B’Av.

I had no details on the Romney press conference when I posted last week,

but an hour later I had all the information I wanted.

What a wonder, the internet!

Even no food or water for 24 hours could not keep me away.

The Old City Walls were in the background as

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat waited to welcome Romney to the stage.

Flags and a line of security lined the entrance route.

Already there have been hundreds of reports

and millions of words written about the speech,

which was given in the plaza near the Montefiore Windmill.

Only a small select crowd attended the Romney events.

However, what else did you hear about Tisha B’Av?

Did you hear that the night before, hundreds of people

were out on the Jerusalem streets walking around the walls of

The Old City, passing first by the New Gate, new from 1887?

The new addition this year were the active Jerusalem light rail trains.

As last year, Tisha B’av and Ramadan coincided,

so Damascus Gate at midnight was still celebrating.

I only got one chance to take a photo, as security moved me away.

Cameras and security were ready for trouble.

But the most shocking scene I could find was of all the garbage on the street.

The Women in Green had to petition the court to be allowed to walk,

though this was the 18th year for this event.

Like last year, I was impressed with the number of people

and the variety of the crowd that stayed

so late at night for the closing speeches at the Lion’s Gate.

At 1:00am some marchers headed home while the buses were still running.

Others walked to the Dung Gate entrance to The Kotel, The Western Wall,

where many people stayed all night.

Tens of thousands of people,

peacefully celebrated Tisha B’Av in Jerusalem.

There was no violence, therefore it was not news.

This one minute video may help you feel the mood of the night.

As I walked home at 2:00 am, the closed Mamilla Mall was full of people.

I noticed that it was decorated with strings of colorful lights

for the Muslim holy time of Ramadan.

Another sign of Israeli oppression?

For more on Romney visit click here.

More photos from the Walk around the Walls.

Waiting for Windmills and Romney

July 26, 2012rjstreets

It is summer holiday now,

the Knesset is out of session until the middle of October.

In Jerusalem, Israel, when one says after the holidays,

it usually means a wait until after all the Jewish fall holidays,

not just two weeks in the summer.

We have waited a long time for the Montefiore Windmill

renovations to be finished

so that it can go into operation as a working flour mill again.

At the beginning of the week it clearly was not finished.

After all the waiting the Windmill finally got its blades,

but the main dedication will have to wait until the end of August.

I got to hear Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

when she was in Jerusalem, Israel, 10 days ago.

Gee, we were waiting then too.

US presidential candidate Mitt Romney is coming soon,

but I have not heard of any chance to hear or see Mitt Romney,

unless you have a spare $50,000 to give him that is.

In the miserable heat this week it was hard to work or think.

It was even hard to find anything amusing,

but these “walking” signs got me to laugh out loud.

Wonder what they are doing now?

We finally got our windmill.

Maybe they can advertise that we are waiting for an invite to see Mitt.

Oh well, the heat wave just broke and there is a cool breeze.

Now that is what we all have been waiting for.