rjstreets – Page 152 – The Real Jerusalem Streets

Yitzhak Shamir, 1915-2012

July 3, 2012rjstreets

On Monday, July 2, 2012,

the large flag over the Knesset flew at half mast,

while this warning sign was posted in front of the building.

Yitzhak Shamir, the 7th Prime Minister of Israel, had died at age 96,

and his casket was lying in state in the main hall.

Getting into the Knesset Building is usually not easy.

But today the public was invited to pay their respects to the Shamir family,

as army rabbis stood and read Psalms.

Vice Premier Dan Meridor was one of the government officials present.

At 4:00 pm, the floral wreaths surrounding the casket

were removed

and an honor guard lifted the casket.

IDF Chief Chazan Shai Abramson led the procession out of the hall

while chanting Psalm 91.

The public was then ushered out of the Knesset Building.

In 1991, Prime Minister Shamir approved Operation Solomon

which brought over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

On the day of his funeral, Ethiopian community leaders

were in the last group to leave the Knesset grounds.

The funeral procession went to Mount Herzl Cemetery for burial.

There was just enough time for some visitors to pose

for a quick photo.

On the way in I had a “buggy” ride,

but on the way out everyone walked.

Most people walked away slowly.

Yitzhak Shamir z’l

1915-2012

Warning: Traffic Ahead

July 2, 2012rjstreets

Traffic filled the Jerusalem streets last week.

First, there were major international conferences

with motorcades and official limousines and sirens.

Vladimir Putin was in Jerusalem for only one day,

but he caused a traffic mess of presidential proportions.

The Russian flags welcoming him to Jerusalem were still flying after he left.

Schools held countless end-of-year performances for families,

making driving unpredictable and parking sometimes impossible.

The usual was bad enough, but wait–it got worse.

The Promenades of the Tayelet are perfect for views

of the Old City Walls.

In May,

smoke could be seen from several fires below the Tayelet,

but they did not spread.

Recently, however, there have been multiple fires in the area.

Last week the main Route #1 into Jerusalem was shut down

while firefighters worked to put out fires and

thousands of people were stuck in traffic for hours.

There have also been less serious fires that do not make the news.

Traffic came to a stop for one such fire near Kiryat Gat,

while planes circled above.

We were able to turn around and take another route back to Jerusalem,

so I do not know how long it took to re-open the road.

The funeral for former Prime Minister Shamir is later today,

and it could be a traffic disaster of Prime Ministerial proportions.

Major construction on Route #1 is scheduled to start soon,

so we are in for years of serious traffic nightmares.

Bad traffic situations ahead seem to be a certainty,

but surely we can put an end to some of the dangerous fires.

Reflections on Tomorrow 2012

June 26, 2012rjstreets

Facing Tomorrow – the fourth Israeli Presidential Conference

was held at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem last week.

4500 participants came from around the world to attend and

dozens of press releases and blogs have been written on this mega-event.

Tiny 84-year-old Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a big hit with audiences.

One could say that Dr. Ruth, whose feet have trouble reaching the floor,

was even bigger and better than last year.

International guest panelists spoke of the future.

Retired Chief-of-Staff Gabi Ashkenazi was one of the few speakers

who spoke in Hebrew and was a popular presenter.

The session rooms were overcrowded and I could not get inside,

so I spent a lot of time walking the halls.

I spotted Abe Foxman, National Director of ADL giving an interview

and Natan Sharansky on his way to speak at a session.

During an opening plenary session, Ayaan Hirsi-Ali

shared some of her impressive life story and experiences of Islam.

In her talk she mentioned her age as 42; she smiled when I told her

that someone in the crowd tweeted that she looks more like 24.

Stanley Fisher (right), Governor of the Bank of Israel, is always popular.

The convention center was full of important people with important ideas.

But, due to his recent leg injury, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

did not speak at the closing session on Thursday.

There were three special sessions on Thursday for bloggers,

one was a question and answer session with President Shimon Peres.

Finally I had a chance to get in a session and have a good a seat.

But I did not attend the last day of Facing Tomorrow 2012.

Wednesday night I got the dreaded, but expected call

that my mother-in-law had passed away.

Ruth Brooks Spanglet z”l was born in America 89 1/2 years ago.

She never went to college,

but her two children earned post graduate degrees.

Her legacy includes twelve devoted grandchildren and

twenty-six great-grandchildren (with more on the way),

all of whom now must face a tomorrow without Bubby.

A friend of mine wrote a wonderful piece on what she found missing

at this conference of big names and creative ideas – the mention of family.

Families like Bubby’s are the real tomorrow and the hope for the future.

May all the mourners of Zion be comforted soon.

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