From Jerusalem: The Best and Worst of Times

Sharon A

Another week in Jerusalem, Israel with the question of where to begin.

President and Michal Herzog departed for a state visit to the Federal Republic of Germany today, at the invitation of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. 

On December 6, 2015, President Reuven Rivlin and Nechama Rivlin greeted the President of Germany Joachim Gauck and Mrs. Daniela Schadt marking 50 years of diplomatic relations. It was an impressive positive event.

However, September 5, 2022, marks another 50-year remembrance. The 1972 Olympic Games held in Munich were publicized to be the “Peace Games” but turned out to be anything but peaceful.

Black September, the PLO group formed within Fatah led by Yasir Arafat, turned the Munich Olympics into “the worst of times” as ABC announcer Jim McKay intoned of the murder of 11 Israeli athletes.

The first-ever live broadcast of the summer Olympics started out colorful and exciting to watch on television for millions around the world.

Then two Israeli athletes were butchered in their dorm room, and the others held by the 8 terrorists were killed in a “botched rescue” mission. At an airstrip away from the athletic village, a terrorist threw a grenade into the helicopter as the Israelis were held tied hand and foot.

Even now international media uses “fighter” and “militant” to describe them, starting half a century of deadly international terrorism.

Ankie Spitzer, the widow of the murdered fencer Andre Spitzer has spent the past 50 years trying to get answers to how and what happened in Munich.

December 1974, Black September was dissolved. Most of its membership was reassigned to other PLO groups. Wonder where they went?

Over the course of four years, Canadian Francine Zuckerman documented the stories of four women in the film “After Munich” which was screened at the Jerusalem Cinematheque. The timely showing of the film based on the lives of four women directly involved with the Olympic tragedy left me with more questions than answers about the Munich Massacre.

However, in the next few days, the President of Israel will deliver an address at the Bundestag and will participate in the official ceremony marking the 50-year anniversary of the Munich Massacre, with family members of the murdered athletes in attendance.

President Herzog will also visit the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, accompanied by the President of Germany.

Perhaps now the sealed German records will be opened. Time to see how such an attack against Israeli athletes happened on German soil.

From the worst of times – back to the Jerusalem streets.

After over ten years of work, a new Jerusalem street opened up this week.

Until you experience it for yourself, here’s a ride on Ariel Sharon Highway:

Years of blasting out under mountains, Highway 16 circumvents the traffic at the entrance of Jerusalem and goes from Route One to the Shaare Zedek hospital area in minutes, instead of the much longer times we have endured.

Come and see what’s new, it is constantly hard to believe with so many troubles, that there is so much positive happening.

As the end of the year approaches, Beit Avi Chai has a list of Elul programs.

The new school year of 5783 started as the shmita year is ending.

The public flower beds are cleared and ready for planting after Shemita.

It was hotter this week than it was all summer, but a Jerusalem winter sign decorates a local bus stop.

Hope to see you here soon on the old and new Jerusalem streets.

Two Special Events in Jerusalem

Sharon A

As the summer ends in Jerusalem, the school year is set to begin.

I want to share with you these last days of August, two special private events, along with a few of the many public ones.

There were nightly concerts from the Jerusalem Sultan’s Pool with the Old City walls illuminated in the background, but much more was happening on the Jerusalem streets as the summer was ending.

At the Beit Mezia Theater near the Machane Yehudah Market,

The Israel Comedy Festival opened in Jerusalem on August 21, 2022. Inside, lining the walls of the theater lobby were displays in honor of Efraim Kishon.

The first Israel Comedy Festival opening event was held in the theater courtyard with various performances and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.

Nearby at the Beit HaAm Theater, there was an end-of-summer event for yeshiva students who were near the end of their month-long summer holiday.

The annual end-of-summer musical celebrations outside the Jerusalem Theater were open to everyone. The loud music could be heard on many of the neighboring Jerusalem streets.

Inside, First Station was one of the locations for less physical activities. New Virtual Reality shows were advertised for families.

There was a Cocktail Festival at First Station along with the popular musical events at night. And the Wine Festival is back at the Israel Museum.

There were events for almost everyone at multiple locations, such as the Tayelet, with a view worthy of sharing, not so much the “festival” there.

However, this week I want to highlight two special events.

A private VIP screening was held at the Cinematheque.

The Yugo BAFTA Student Awards is an annual award, “the British Oscars,” celebrating the works of the next generation of talented and innovative storytellers from around the globe.

For the first time, an Israeli film entered – and won!

Before the screening, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan spoke, as did Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and British Ambassador Neil Wigan.

Girl No. 60427 is a powerful film base on a true Holocaust story.

Director Shulamit Lifshitz and Animation Director Oriel Berkovits answered questions about their impressive work after the showing.

They were then joined on stage by the actors in the winning student film. Girl No. 60427 brings the story of the Holocaust to the “third generation.” Tehilla Lifshitz, plays the young girl finding her grandmother’s hidden diary, giving an impressive performance.

I highly recommend the Maaleh Film School student film to all when it has public showings after running the film festival circuit. There is no doubt why this film won first prize.

Each year fewer Holocaust survivors are able to share their stories. The flow in the film was so powerful the translator for the Hebrew film with English subtitles said she had to stop and take breaks. She worked thru Intifada as a translator, but this work connected deeper.

Then the next morning was a Hachnasat Sefer Torah, a dedication of a new Sefer Torah scroll filling the Jerusalem streets with music and meaning.

For those not familiar, first, the new Torah scroll’s last letters are filled in.

Then the Torah is escorted in a joyful procession, with music and song, to the ark where it will be kept.

The Jerusalem streets were closed to traffic along the route.

Cars were stopped, but there was no honking as people had to wait.

As the van blasts the lively music and proceeds slowly, cars wait while

people from the neighborhood join the procession to honor the new Torah.

People are honored to take turns carrying the Torah scroll and holding the poles of the canopy, similar to a Jewish wedding.

Dancing in the Jerusalem streets along with the Torah and music.

In this case, the children dedicated a Torah after their father returned to health from a severe case of Covid.

Inside the synagogue where the Torah was placed to be used, I saw the words “Remember for Good” and thought how good it was for knowledge and traditions to pass and continue to the next generations.

Now to leave you with a short video of one of the light and sound projections on the walls of the real Jerusalem streets this summer week for all to enjoy.

When are you coming to see for yourself on a Jerusalem Photo Walk?

Jerusalem: Days, Nights, and more Knights

Sharon A

After the last two years, Jerusalem appears to be getting back to life as we knew it. Crowds are filling the Old City in spite of the summer sun and heat.

The large number of visitors during vacation time means that getting a bus back to the city from outside the Kotel Plaza can be a challenge. People waiting (as seen here on the bottom right) have been known to pack on the city buses leaving the timid tourist behind.

Yes, this entrance to the Kotel plaza really was closed, temporarily to enter from the Jewish Quarter. I tried to warn people not to head down the stairs.

This was the main entrance to the Kotel, Western Wall the afternoon I went last week along with hundreds of others.

In spite of the number of visitors, the egalitarian section which is shaded from the blazing sun was nearly empty, as usual.

The main reason I went during the day was to check out the free shuttle from First Station to the Kotel. This stop near Dung Gate is where it was located before the vans stopped running during the pandemic.

The bus stop in the First Station parking lot was not marked but is in the same location.

The new vans do not look like the ones in the past, but run on the same schedule, every 20 minutes on the hour. Arrive one minute late and you will have to wait for the next one, as I did. They run on time.

They also stop at the Ir David nature activity, on the way to the Old City.

The Tower of David has an event with Knights. Only in Jerusalem can a period of persecution become a family fun activity, I was reminded of the Jerusalem Knights Festival – 12 years ago. Where has the time gone?

At night, there are the new little cars to drive for site seeing.

But also a special bus runs at night to see Jerusalem’s iconic buildings lit.

The water at Teddy Park across from Old City walls is still popular.

I was on my way to the Artists Colony, for a lecture by Irvin Ungar at the Kol HaOt gallery on the artist Arthur Szyk.

The slides presented of Szyk’s vast artwork were fascinating.

UN Security Council, 1948

(To the greatest mockery of them all, the Security Council of June 1948)

“We agree with you on every point, except your stubborn insistence on surviving…”

Note China, Syria, and Belgium sitting at the table facing an Israeli in chains in Szyk’s political cartoon from 1948.

Also later that night was the opening of the International Puppet Festival.

Smoke and skaters entertained the public as the audience was allowed to enter the Skating Park at Jerusalem’s Liberty Bell Park for free.

Mime actors and lights enthralled the young families up close.

There was action all around the skateboard peaks and valleys,

and spaces for the audience to sit and watch.

The new Train Theater hosted varied theatrical and puppet performances inside and out all week.

And by day, the Teddy Park water fountain was filled again with families at the end of the summer holiday time.

Perhaps the oldest and most Israeli festival Hutzot Hayozer is back again next to the Artists Colony and Teddy Park.

Israeli products, arts, and crafts were again featured in various booths. I went early to surprise one businesswoman setting up her space.

The big stands in the middle area held international booths in the past.

But this time, the booths from various countries were replaced with international food offerings.

I suppose Israelis who did not travel overseas this summer, consider this their end-of-summer splurge. First, you pay to get in. Then you pay again for your food. There is a different musical performance every night.

You can go for the golden seats set up in Sultan Pool, as thousands come each night for the shows. They come year after year, except during the corona time.

Besides the dozens of young security staff on guard, a fire engine waits inside ready for an emergency.

But not far away is something new, very new.

The new StandwithUs sign is on King David Street by the King David Hotel.

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Stand With Us has opened its new educational center with a program designed for groups to explain – What is Zionism.

Breaking down the Jewish story into sound bites to keep it simple.

The Israel story in its simplest form, indigenous roots, exile, and liberation, SWU is trying to reach the new instant information generation.

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The Jerusalem, Israel story is not short and goes back thousands of years.

The infamous “green line” is barely green, but I passed over it this week

to get to the New Gate of the Old City for a new Jerusalem street festival.

Inside New Gate, music and more entices tourists back to the Old City.

I was sad to see too many shops shuttered in the Christian Quarter as I walked thru to Jaffa Gate.

Oh there, was much more, but this is getting too long.

Docotext festival was back at National Library and the Outline Festival is to extend on to Jaffa Road from August 17-23.

Shalom Kitah Aleph signs went up to welcome first-grade students to the start of school. When that will be will depend on the outcome of the negotiations to see if there is another teachers’ strike.

Plenty of signs are back on the Jerusalem streets–see if you can explain this sign.

Ah, the Israel Festival returns to Jerusalem streets on September 15-22, 2022.

So there you have a bit of what was happening this week, days and nights, on and off the Jerusalem streets.

Hope to see you here soon!